'Accidental' Regent fan Rob to cycle from Sussex to Brightlingsea- for charity

Brightlingsea Regent fan Rob Becvar is honouring the memory of one of his closest friends on Saturday, cycling from Sussex to North Road to raise money for the Royal Marsden's Oak Foundation Development Unit.

Rob and his late friend Graham George became Regent fans by accident! Rob tells the story on his Just Giving page:

'Graham and I would often find ourselves watching Lewes FC (our local football team) which is where this story starts. We headed down for a match not knowing who they were even playing. Turns out it was a random team from Essex we had never heard of.

Unknowingly, we were stood with the away fans (as they wore the same colours as Lewes!), only finding out our mistake mid way through the match! We had however stumbled across the most welcoming, friendly bunch of people we had ever met. So much so we swapped allegiance and started supporting Brightlingsea Regent FC! Since that day we have followed them avidly and they have made us feel part of the family. We have become so close to everyone at the club and they genuinely are the nicest people and the most welcoming football club on earth. Luckily we got to catch a home game in Essex before Graham passed which meant the world to him.'

Rob will be setting off on Saturday morning- we suspect rather early in the day- and will need to cycle into central London, across London Bridge, and then, as he puts it, ‘turn right all the way to Brightlingsea.’ The ride will see him cover one hundred and seventeen miles, so if you see a man in shorts looking rather exhausted please stop him and make a donation!

Alternatively, you can head directly to his donations page HERE to give what you can, and you can also head directly to the Regent website to read more about his story.

We'd like to wish Rob the very best of luck for his marathon ride, and to send our congratulations on his efforts, which have- so far- raised nearly three thousand pounds for an extremely worthwhile cause.