Youngest participant completes 100 Mile Challenge

A desire to make a difference

When he’s not in school, Teddy likes to build things with Lego. His most recent model was an awesome Star Wars spaceship, of his own invention. He’s also interested in Greek mythology and likes going cycling with his family.

Teddy was inspired to take part in Social Bite’s 100 Mile Challenge on a family trip to Edinburgh.

“I noticed that there were people asking for money on the street,” he said. “I thought they looked really sad and I wanted to help them – everyone deserves to be happy. I asked my mummy and daddy how we could help.”

“We were in town for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and he was really worried about the number of people he saw on the street and wasn’t sure how best to help,” remembers Coree. “I saw the announcement about 100 Mile Challenge and he was immediately on board.”

The right thing to do

Despite his young age, Teddy had identified some of the key issues of homelessness.

“I know that not having a home can be quite sad, and people might not have enough money to be able to pay for a safe home,” he told Social Bite. “Everyone deserves to have a good home, to have a good house, which is safe and warm. Everyone should be protected – not sleeping out in the cold.”

Why should we help people who are experiencing homelessness? Quite simply, “because it’s the right thing to do.”

“Teddy’s a kindly wee soul, and super aware of what’s going on in the world,” says Coree. “So we were really thrilled to see this opportunity to help raise money while doing something that Teddy loves so much – cycling!

Confidence carries little legs to success

“We’ve done our normal school run cycles and discovered some fun new routes at the weekend to tally up the miles,” explains Coree.

Like all of us, at times Teddy found it hard to complete the distance. “Sometimes I worry I can’t do it,” he said. “So many people have donated to help and I don’t want to disappoint them. But I’ve been working really hard – sometimes even cycling in the rain!”

And it’s paid off. On World Homeless Day, Teddy finished his 100 miles – an incredible achievement and a fantastic contribution to the movement to end homelessness. He also absolutely smashed his fundraising target by raising more than £600.

Teddy said, “Now I will say thank you to everyone who has donated, and maybe I’ll have a little family celebration. We can all help [end homelessness] by raising money for charities like Social Bite. Now that I’ve done it, I want to encourage other people to help too.”

A huge well done and thank you from all of us at Social Bite!