TWO friends bereaved by brain tumours challenged themselves to an epic cycling tour to help fund the fight against the disease.

Mat Williets, from Fordingbridge, and Joe Dibden, from Durrington in Wiltshire, 26, clipped in for charity and cycled 400 miles between Saturday, June 29 and Saturday, July 6. They stopped at nine Waitrose branches in Peterborough, Kingsthorpe, Dorking, Chichester, Havant, Gosport, Dorchester, Sidmouth and Lymington. Mat’s dad, Jon Williets, worked in all nine of the stores throughout his career, and was branch manager at Lymington.

Jon, from Duston, Northamptonshire, was diagnosed with a low-grade brain tumour in January 2015 after falling out of bed. He had six surgeries and radiotherapy but his tumour became aggressive and he passed away in July 2018, aged 57. He left his wife Karen and their sons Mat, Tom and Ben, 26, 23 and 21.

Mat’s cycling partner Joe was also bereaved by a brain tumour. His aunt, Lesley Arnold, a veterinary receptionist from County Durham, died in August 2018, just 14 weeks after her diagnosis. Aged 59, she left her partner of 30 years, Julian.

Car sales executive Mat said: “It was very tough to see Dad undergo operation after operation and for his tumour to grow back after each surgery. The strength he showed throughout his illness was remarkable and I wanted to do something special in his memory. I’d never taken on a cycling challenge before so it was tough, but I know Dad would have been proud of me. We were grateful to my father-in-law Cliff, who drove our support vehicle.”

“Dad worked at Waitrose for more than 34 years and loved his job. He was well-respected by his colleagues and they have fond memories of working with him. Joe and I met while working as delivery drivers for the store and my brothers worked for Waitrose too.”

Joe and Mat raised more than £3,000 for Brain Tumour Research and Salisbury Hospice Charity by completing the cycling tour, which wound its way through the Midlands, Surrey, Sussex, Devon and finishing in Hampshire. The pair visited Brain Tumour Research’s headquarters in Milton Keynes along the way, where they learned about the research funded by the charity.

To donate to the team’s JustGiving page go to justgiving.com/fundraising/joe-dibden-cycle