A determined nurse and her husband have been named as charity champions after raising over £600 for Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity by going the extra distance and cycling over 200 miles for her brave patients.

After buying themselves a pair of mountain bikes for Christmas, Kim Utting, who works in the Emergency Department at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, and her husband, Joe, decided to put them to good use.

With the third lockdown in full swing, Kim and Joe got on their bikes to keep themselves occupied in their spare time with the hope that they might get a little fitter along the way. They then thought adding a challenge element might keep them motivated. In her day job, Kim goes above and beyond for her patients but this was her chance to go even further, by raising vital funds. They set themselves a target of £500. .

To start with, the pair set their sights on cycling their combined age of 105.5 miles. Needing to ride just over 50 miles each, they split the distance over a few days, tackling up to 11 miles each a day and hitting their target in no time. Feeling they needed a greater challenge, Kim and Joe decided to think bigger and challenged themselves to ride as far as they could for a whole month.

Armed with their charity-branded jerseys, the couple got out whenever they could and managed to rack up a mighty 255 miles between them. With the support of their friends, family and colleagues at the hospital and at the Marine Society and Sea Cadets, where Joe works, they smashed their fundraising target.

Kim said: “I’ve been a nurse in the Emergency Department of the hospital for four years now and I’m constantly reminded of just what these young children have to go through, and how brave they truly are. I also get to see first-hand, how the charity’s money supports the hospital, whether it’s by creating a better patient experience, improving the environment, or funding innovative equipment to make treatment easier.

“Since starting this challenge both Joe and I have really caught the cycling bug! We’re both much fitter than we were at the start but most importantly, we’ve raised a great amount to help make an even bigger difference for the children at the hospital.”

Miranda Williams, Head of Public Fundraising at Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity, said: “Our fantastic staff are brilliant at what they do. They go above and beyond for our sick kids every single day, but it’s the money raised by our wonderful fundraisers that help us to support the work of our NHS Heroes just like Kim, and we’re so grateful to her and Joe for going the extra mile for us.”