Schoolboy completes 175-bike ride for charity to grandparents' home in South Shields

Archie Street, 11, travelled from Ravenglass in Cumbria, to the place where his grandparents Ken and Margaret Street were born and grew up, in aid of Coeliac UK.

The youngster chose the charity after it provided himself and his family with the support they needed after he was diagnosed with the condition in January.

Coeliac is a common digestive condition where the small intestine becomes inflamed and unable to absorb nutrients causing the sufferer severe abdominal pain.

But despite this, he was determined to complete the bike ride and on Friday he arrived in the town to be greeted by family who had travelled up to see him complete his cycle challenge.

The youngster was accompanied on his journey by his dad Matt and his friend Graeme Ashworth.

Archie said: “It was really good. There were certain parts of the ride which were hard. But I did not want to give up at any point.

“Seeing everyone at the finishing line, it really cheered me up, it was really emotional. When we were crossing the River Tyne on the boat, my dad was telling me about where his grandfather used to work and live, it was interesting.

“Finishing in South Shields made the ride a little more special.”

His dad Matt said: “It was a fantastic journey for us all and I’m really proud of Archie. He took on all the hills without any problems.

“It was really challenging, but once we were on the last day, Archie really picked up. He was singing on the ferry as we crossed the River Tyne.

“We are all really proud of him. He’s already started to plan his next bike ride.”