Hospice at Home West Cumbria played host to bike rider Gerard McCarten of Whitehaven recently.
The 86-year-old was there to present a cheque after his latest fundraising effort.
He called his ride Out of this World and was delighted to have completed his most challenging test late last year when he successfully cycled the equivalent height of the tallest mountain in the entire Universe.
Thanks to generous donations from friends and neighbours, who were a constant source of support and encouragement, and from supporters across the country and abroad, £1,400 was raised for two local charities.
Community fundraising co-ordinator, Holly Harkness accepted £700 for Hospice at Home West Cumbria.
She said: “Gerard has been such a fantastic supporter over the years, taking on many incredible feats to raise money for our charity.
“His Out of this World challenge was another example and we are so grateful for his donation of £700, which will help us continue to support patients and their families in our local community.
“Last year we cared for more than 1,000 local people through home nursing, family and bereavement support, complementary therapies, and specialist lymphoedema treatments, and we simply couldn’t do this without the support of amazing people like Gerard.”
Gerard also presented £700 to West Cumbria Society for the Blind at its headquarters in Whitehaven.
The mountain Gerard attempted to scale was Olympus Mons on Mars. It was surveyed by NASA’s Mariner 9 space probe in 1971 and found to be 23,000m high and a radius of 288 kilometres at its base.
The estimated average gradient of the slope of this shield volcano is 8 per cent.
Gerard’s challenge on Earth was to climb a modest slope 3,915 times which allowed a height gain of 5.875 metres on each lap. The slope had a base of 70 metres and was just metres from his front door. Remarkably, the average gradient was 8 per cent, the same as Olympus Mons.
Throughout his challenge the memory of his wife Margaret, who died October 2023, and the loss of his daughter, Lesley who died in August 2025, were foremost in his mind.
Gerard was over the moon to present cheques of £700 to both Hospice at Home West Cumbria and West Cumbria Society for the Blind.
Battered by Storm Amy early in the campaign Gerard resorted to riding his grandson’s mountain bike, which offered lower gearing and better braking to combat the ferocious storm conditions of strong winds and cold driving rain.
The effort had consequence when he needed two days of rest to recover from the chill of Storm Amy.
Perhaps not fully recovered, Gerard then suffered a fall from his bike two days later, a result of stopping to field a phone call.
While still astride his machine, but stationary at the kerbside, he overbalanced and fell heavily into the road.
The result was injury to his face, leg and arm but tremendous help from his neighbours saw the rider on his feet and safely home to recover from his physical injuries and injured pride.
Back in the saddle Gerard took time away from his Out of this World effort to support Jericho Primary School pupils who had taken up the theme of Gerard’s challenge in preparations for their endeavours to raise funds for Children in Need in November.
Dressed in his homemade spacesuit, complete with emergency oxygen bottles, he rode into the school playground, now lined in its entirety with all the children in space costumes to welcome their guest.
The reception was tremendous with the children clapping and cheering while Gerard rode round the ring giving high fives to everyone.
But the children had prepared a surprise for their teachers, a generous dollop of coloured Slime to anoint their unwilling victims.
Gerard was also so anointed, much to the delight of the pupils.
In total Jericho Primary School raised £420 for Children in Need.
