Day 7 24 April 2026
I’ve been getting my miles in by cycling the 20-mile round journey to work and back, but I’m very aware that the hills are not the same as they are going to be in Wales. Those big spiky elevation profiles are a bit scary, but if the worst comes to the worst, I can always walk up some of them. There is always a way.
Imagine having a bramble growing across your front door. Every time you entered the house you would scratch yourself, which would mean you would need antiseptic cream and a plaster every time anyone entered. What would you do? Cut back the bramble. Obviously! Maybe it would grow back, so then you might dig out its roots. You would not just keep on buying plasters and antiseptic cream.
Yet this is a pretty good analogy for stalking. There are umpteen charities dedicated to helping protect victims from their stalkers. Stalking cases need multiagency responses to ensure that victims are kept safe. These agencies are awash with stalking cases, yet many of these cases don’t even get to court – the brambles that no one cuts – that need antiseptic cream and plasters for many years. The cost to the country must be enormous. The cost to the victims and their families is much much more than just money.
Some stalking cases do get to court and the stalkers are stopped – these are the brambles that are cut and maybe dug out. These do have a cost but hopefully it will be less.
But imagine if we could stop the brambles ever growing. A world without stalking. Our charity strapline is “putting an end to stalking” and we want to do this by education. The understanding of stalking by the general population is woefully inadequate. I know! I was one of those people before Alice was murdered. Now, I probably know more about stalking than most.
If we can ensure that everyone in every school in the country is properly educated about stalking, then we will make an enormous impact. People will be more likely to identify stalking, whether it is happening to them, to their friends or being carried out by their friends. They will know what to do about it and how to support those people that it is affecting. This is so important!
According to the government, the cost of a homicide is 3.2 million pounds. This is an enormous amount of money. At the current rate, that amount of money could keep our charity running for decades and think how many multiples of 3.2 million pounds we could save!
Please sponsor my bike ride so that we can make this happen.
