Up Your(s) Endo

1st September 2023

For those of you who don’t know yet, 8 brave members of the team will be riding 2 bikes non-stop for 24 hrs in front of our studio (on static Turbo trainers). Why?

Because we’re raising funds and awareness for an important cause, Endometriosis UK. 

Today the two teams will start peddling from 10:30am – 10:30am on Saturday, so they’ll be needing all the support they can get… and no doubt a big old feed-up to keep them going through the night.

We’re aiming to generate as much awareness as possible, so not only will we be running the event outdoors with the tunes playing and a banner mounted to the front of the building, (give us a toot if you see us on Thorpe Road) but we will be answering questions on our socials centred around Endometriosis. Helping more people to understand what it is and the problems we face in terms of diagnosis, prevention and support with symptoms. Make sure you give us a follow on Insta, that’s where we’ll be recording all the action.

Why Endo?

We know she wouldn’t want us to get our violins out, but we have a special team member who has been silently suffering with Endo for many years and we have decided to be their voice. She doesn’t like to make a fuss, so we thought we’d do it for her.

As a condition it is rarely talked about and diagnosis times are unacceptably high. The net result is painful, all consuming and life changing. 1 in 10 women of reproductive age in the UK will suffer from the condition and the average diagnosis time is 8 years. By which time, the extent of the spread can be impossible to reverse. Yeah, basically, it really sucks. 

Support our peddlers!

Fancy supporting us? You can do so in a few ways…

1. Come and hop on our guest bike! That’s right, we have set up a third bike so you can come and help clock up our mileage if you want to pop by. We’ll be sure to give your business a shout out on our socials if you do.
2. You can donate to help us reach our goal. Just follow the link, even a few pennies will help us on our way and encourage our team to get through those gruelling night time shifts. 
3. Follow and engage with our socials. Read up on Endometriosis and help us spread the word to get this condition and charity some much needed recognition.
   

If raising awareness and funds for Endometriosis UK enables the charity to continue their hard work to ensure just one person receives a more prompt diagnosis and better support and treatment to dissuade the course of this condition, we’ll consider it a job well done. However, it would be a disservice to not hear from the woman who inspired the challenge in the first place and who inspires all of us every day with her resilience. A few words from Nicole:

“I have suffered with Endometriosis for many years now, and to be frank it sucks, but for the most part I tend to keep it under wraps and tucked away from my professional life.

 I was told that the team would be undertaking this challenge, after they had already secretly organised it…likely because they thought I would stop them doing it for me.

 I was touched that they were so committed to support me, and the cause (love them) but I won’t be stopping them. This isn’t just about me, it is way bigger than that.

As a condition Endometriosis is rarely talked about and diagnosis times are unacceptably high. I waited around 6 years to be diagnosed, by which time I was carrying around several large cysts on my ovaries, one the size of a tennis ball, despite raising Endo as a possibility during assessments, as my mum also suffered from it.

Unfortunately, that’s a frustratingly common outcome, with the average diagnosis time being 8 years, often by the time patients are offered help, the extent of the spread can be impossible to reverse.

Endometriosis is debilitating, it is responsible for chronic pain and fatigue, depression and brain fog. It can also leave you with a difficulty/inability to conceive.

Women deserve more than this. Please donate if you can.”