Jill Scott sets off on 388-mile cycling and marathon challenge for Sport Relief

Jill Scott, the former England midfielder who helped the Lionesses win Euro 2022, set off from Wembley Stadium on Monday morning on a five-day, 388-mile cycling and marathon challenge in aid of Sport Relief. The route will end at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light on Friday, 12 June.

Scott’s opening leg is a 112-mile bike ride to Villa Park — the longest single day of the challenge. Day two takes her on a 99-mile cycle to Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium, before a 38-mile run into Manchester on day three. Thursday brings what organisers describe as a “Tour de France-style” 111-mile cycle towards the North East, with the challenge concluding in a 28-mile marathon finish in Sunderland.

Along the route, Scott will stop at football stadiums and community hubs, joined by former teammates and other well-known faces from the sport.

Speaking ahead of the challenge, Scott said she was honoured to take part and described herself as “100 per cent committed” to completing it. She drew on her own upbringing to explain why the cause matters to her.

“I was so lucky that I was offered safe spaces to play football and I was offered these incredible teachers and coaches who I could trust and who could help me,” Scott said, “but there’s so many young people that don’t get those opportunities.”

She also pointed to a growing sense of isolation among young people as a key motivation. “A lot of young people say they feel lonely, they feel disconnected. That’s definitely something that Sport Relief really do help with — giving kids a sense of belonging, a purpose.”

Scott urged the public to contribute where possible. “Without those green spaces, without those youth clubs, I would never have gone on to fulfil my dreams of playing for England.”

Donations for the ‘Coming Home Challenge’ can be made at comicrelief.com/jillscott.