Despite losing the sight in both his eyes, Tommy Mulholland, is preparing for a three day tandem cycle challenge from Brighton to Paris to reach the Eiffel Tower in time to celebrate his 80th birthday on 6 May. He is tackling this challenge to raise money for Chestnut Tree House, the children’s hospice for Sussex.
At the age of 47, Tommy was attacked by robbers while collecting his firm’s wages and was blinded in his right eye. Then a few years later a blood clot in his left eye caused him to become totally blind. More recently, Tommy was diagnosed with prostate cancer but was declared clear a year ago.
Tommy is an honorary member of the English and Welsh Blind Golf Association and has raised thousands of pounds over the years for them. He has represented the Association in several tournaments around the world. He is also a Freemason and a founder member of Bromley Lions for whom he has been active for the last 30 years. Tommy raises funds for Greater London Fund for the Blind as well as the Ex-Boxers’ Association whose aim is to benefit boxers suffering hardship.
‘Stoker’ Tommy is training with the aid of his ‘pilot’ Bob Harber who is 70 years old. Tommy became aware of Chestnut Tree House through his friendship with Alan Minter and Terry Knight while working for the Brighton Ex-boxers Club in Brighton. He wanted to mark his eightieth year with a worthy challenge and raise funds to support Chestnut Tree House which provides care and support to over 300 children in Sussex and South East Hampshire, both at the hospice and in families’ own homes. It costs £3.5 million a year to provide all the care services but the hospice receives less than 7% from central government funding so relies heavily on the support of people like Tommy and Bob.
With 150 years of cycling between them, both Tommy and Bob are looking forward to arriving at the Eiffel Tower where Tommy’s grand-daughter will be waiting to take pictures of their arrival. Bob is clear ‘The one at the back cannot slack!’ and Tommy says his biggest challenge will be ensuring he has plenty of padding for the three day journey!
If you would like to donate to Tommy’s challenge visit his JustGiving page at www.justgiving.com/Tommy80thBirthdayChallenge