AN ISLANDER has raised £3,000 by undertaking the ‘life-changing’ experience of cycling across Cuba.

Nicky Venables (45), of St Clement, said she had always wanted to visit the island and decided that after a difficult seven years which included her divorce and the death of her former husband, she would undertake the challenge.

Mrs Venables, a doctor’s receptionist, was one of 80 women who cycled across Cuba in the eighth annual event for the Women for Women’s appeal. The money she raised will go towards Professor Robert Winston’s appeal, which aims to improve the health of women and babies.

The group covered 370 kilometres in nine days earlier this month. Each entrant was required to raise £3,000 for the charity and Mrs Venables found that the challenge was actually less daunting than the training had been. Her daughter, Stacey (18), and son, Charlie (13), helped her to train.

She first read about the event in a magazine in January and said: ‘I decided to enter just after Christmas. I have had a tough time since my ex-husband died and I thought it was time to do something for myself.’

It was the right choice for the St Clement resident, as she loved the experience and is even considering a cycle ride through China next year for the charity.

‘It was absolutely brilliant. It was a physical and emotional rollercoaster and was an experience that I will never forget,’ she said. ‘It was a fantastic way of seeing Cuba and it helped to put a lot of things into perspective for me.

‘I had a really bad seven years as my ex-husband died, my son has been very ill, my father was diagnosed with dementia and I needed to do something for me.

‘The training was really tough, but the trip was well worth it and I am now ready to move on now. It was great to see the hurdles that the women on the trip had all overcome to be there. ‘It was a life-changing experience.’