Natalie Scotney, Harriet Mulcahy and Zoe Pollock are about to take on the challenge of a lifetime when they cycle more than 450 kilometres over seven days from Saigon in Vietnam to Angkor Wat in Cambodia while raising vital funds for children’s hospice charity, Julia’s House.

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Natalie Scotney, Harriet Mulcahy  and Zoe Pollock taking a selfie

The trio from Bournemouth all work for the NHS – Natalie and Zoe as paramedics, Harriet as a nurse – so understand the devastation that caring for a seriously ill child can have on a family. 
Says Natalie, “We wanted to raise money for a local charity and we all believe the work that Julia’s House does is so important for these families.”

Julia’s House looks after some of the most seriously ill children in Dorset and Wiltshire, who require 24-hour care for their complex and often rare medical conditions. The charity’s dedicated team of nurses and carers are a lifeline of support, providing essential respite breaks to give exhausted parents a break from round-the-clock care. 

Cycling up to 90 kilometres each day through South East Asia’s Mekong Delta is a challenge that has required a lot of training, and, Natalie adds, it has not always gone to plan.

“Due to our work schedules we have only completed one ride together, around the Isle of Wight. Harriet was hit by a car whilst cycling in 2020 and due to the COVID pandemic it took a long time for her to be able to get a new bike. She has had to overcome the injuries she sustained and gain her confidence with cycling again but she found training for the challenge good motivation to get back on her bike.  Throughout training I have been very unlucky with injuries so am not as prepared as I would like to be. We all have hectic work schedules, working 12-hour shifts, which makes training on working days nearly impossible. We have to squeeze it all in on our days off.”

All three women have taken part in physically demanding endurance challenges previously, including cycle rides, marathons, cross fit and kayaking, but this will be the longest challenge any of them has completed, both in terms of distance and number of days.

“Zoe and I were first inspired to complete this challenge three years ago and now it’s actually happening. We are most looking forward to the day off in the middle where we cross from Vietnam to Cambodia by boat up the Mekong River and watching the sunrise of Angkor Wat on the final morning,” says Natalie. 

With a new programme of events soon to be announced by the charity, she adds the following words of advice to anyone thinking of taking on a physical fundraising challenge for Julia’s House: “If there is a challenge or event that you want to do, that you find daunting or slightly scary, book it and use raising money for such an amazing cause as motivation!”

Natalie, Harriet and Zoe begin their cycle challenge on 20 October and hope to raise £2,000 for Julia’s House. You can support them by donating to their JustGving page