Guest blog: Lands End to Glasgow with Martha, Sally, and Georgia

Motivated by our love for rivers and the growing concerns over climate change, the three of us, (Martha, Sally and Georgia) are cycling 670 miles from Land’s End to Glasgow as part of The Rivers Trust’s River Revival campaign. We’ll be using this blog to keep you updated on our progress and the journey we take, visiting projects and Trusts along the way.

As keen river swimmers and paddle boarders, we are terrified about the impacts of climate change and the devastating effects pollution is having on our rivers.

This summer, after finishing our A-levels, spending time on and in the river has been a fantastic relief from what’s been a pretty stressful year for everyone. We need the government to take climate change and pollution more seriously so that young people, wherever they live, have access to an environment that is so important to all our futures. With this in mind, COP26 in Glasgow seemed like the perfect place to end our ride.

With just under a week to go we’re tapering our training and reserving our energy for some long days in the saddle. We know that some of the sections will be tough but we are nervously looking forward to it.

We start in Land’s End on 4^th September, and when we get to Glasgow on the 11th we’ll take a few celebration photos at the Scottish Exhibition Campus where COP26 will be held, and then have a big night near the River Clyde with friends and family. We may even make it to a distillery!

Eight days, 670 miles and 38,000ft of climbing will make the point that: We are not going to stand by and do nothing. We cannot stand by and do nothing.

The public will be able to follow our progress on a special interactive map – people are welcome to wave as we go past or even cycle with us for part of the way. We’ll try our best to update the blog as we go, but might be a little exhausted!