When his daughter, Naomi, started working for Alopecia UK last year, Stephen Hall decided he would like to do some fundraising for the charity. 

Stephen had experienced firsthand the impact of alopecia, not only on Naomi but also the rest of the family including Naomi's mum, Maureen, and two sisters. Stephen explains: 

"Naomi lost all her hair quite suddenly in 2014 over a period of just six weeks at the age of 22. It was a very upsetting and distressing time for all of us, especially Naomi. I am very proud of how Naomi has coped with everything that alopecia has thrown at her and when she started working for Alopecia UK last year, I wanted to do something to help support the charity. I decided upon a Coast to Coast Cycle Challenge from Blackpool to Scarborough". 

Stephen set off from Blackpool at 6am on the morning of Monday 10th June and arrived in Scarborough at 8pm, with a riding time of 10 hours 45 minutes (allowing for stops including one at AUK HQ at about the halfway point). Stephen had cycling support for parts of the route from family members, Dave Earl and Kevin Hall. His wife, Maureen, and daughters, Naomi and Autumn, were also part of the support crew, providing food, drink and lots of encouragement!

"I set myself a target of raising £5,000 and am absolutely delighted to have raised £7,270 for Alopecia UK. I've been blown away by the support from my local community in North Yorkshire. They supported a fundraising event we organised our local pub and my customers at Hall's Fish and Chip Shop in Bedale have been very generous. My brother Kevin helped to raise £2,335 of the total, with his own sponsorship forms and a generous company donation from his business Hathaway Roofing Ltd. I would like to thank everyone who has supported me with this challenge and hope they are as pleased as me with the amount raised."

Alopecia UK's Communications Manager, Amy Johnson, says: 

"Cycling 150 miles from Coast to Coast is a huge challenge as is a fundraising target of £5,000. I'm thrilled that Stephen smashed both and the sum raised will really help Alopecia UK to continue its work to improve the lives of those affected by alopecia. Thank you to Stephen and everyone who has shown their support to his fundraising challenge". 

Alopecia UK's Charity Administrator, Naomi Hall, adds: 

"Well done Dad! I'm super-proud of you and what you've achieved, and really grateful to everyone who helped out too".