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For anyone who says you cannot look glamorous while exercising in lockdown, Karen Lane is putting them to shame as she is currently two weeks into her Strictly Come Biking challenge.

Karen, usually known for teaching all styles of dance to all ages at Dance Factory in St Austell and Trewoon, has swapped the dancefloor for a static bike and has set herself a Strictly Come Biking challenge. 

Karen aims to cycle at least 20km everyday on her static bike while wearing a different ballgown each day, all in the name of raising vital funds for Children’s Hospice South West (CHSW).

Karen is two weeks into the challenge and has already raised over £700 gaining tremendous support from friends, family, dance pupils and people from the local area who have heard about her challenge.

Each day Karen is keeping her supporters updated with posts on her social media pages proving her vast array of ballgowns and the mileage that she is clocking up which now sits at over 720km (448 miles), far beyond her original target. 

Speaking about the challenge Karen said “I wanted to support Children’s Hospice South West with this challenge as I used to teach someone who uses Little Harbour. Life is difficult enough at the moment and for these families it’s even harder and they get forgotten.

This is the first time I have been on a bike since I was a child and I intend to carry on either until lockdown ends or I run out of dresses, depends which comes first!

Bernadette Chambers, Area fundraiser for CHSW said “When I heard about Karen’s challenge it made my day. Fundraising is obviously difficult in the current climate but hearing about people like Karen, setting themselves their own challenges and raising fantastic amounts of money along the way, really is heartwarming. Thank you to everyone who has donated and Karen…keep pedaling!”

To support Karen with her fundraising click here

Through it’s Little Harbour children’s hospice at Porthpean in St Austell CHSW continues throughout lockdown to support 140 children with life limiting illnesses and their families. Staff at Little Harbour are now; visiting families at home to ensure they are still seeing a friendly face and parents are getting some respite from 24/7 care responsbilities, offering virtual support and the hospice remains open for emergency resilience stays, symptom control and end of life care.  

To find out more about how you could support CHSW in 2021, it’s 30th anniversary year, simply click here