Jonathan Imber

Hello,

I've never trained for a physical challenge on the scale of Manchester-London, nor have I raised money for charity in this way before. So why this challenge? 

Well...I've always enjoyed cycling. I have fond memories of riding my Mum's steel single speed (with bottle dynamo) around south Manchester as a teenager 40-odd years ago - Withington, Didsbury, Burnage, Levenshulme, Longsight, Gorton and sometimes over to Chorlton and Trafford. I was a proper geek, so most weekends would involve studying, but some Saturdays I enjoyed cycling south, either via Stockport or out past the Airport, heading towards Alderley Edge, Knutsford, Buxton or Hartington. So the idea of cycling to London via the Peak District is tinged with nostalgia, freedom, adventure and horribly familiar aches.

More recently, my life has been touched by Autism, both personally and professionally. A wonderful member of my family is Autistic and has experienced enormous challenges throughout their education. Their overwhelmingly negative experience of the formal education "system" has left me saddened, angry and frustrated. Individual staff and practitioners were, for the most part, wonderful - but the wider system - that is, how individual parts fit (or don't fit) together to support Autistic children - appears to be broken and - without hyperbole - traumatising for some children. How can it be right that neurodivergent children and young people are so over-represented in the populations of permanently excluded children and those in the youth justice system (for example, see Day 2025 https://doi.org/10.1080/13632752.2025.2499788)? Surely these statistics point to an educational system that is failing our children on a massive scale.

I aim to channel some of my anger into a positive cause: raising money for Ambitious about Autism. I am pleased knowing that Ambitious can help fewer children suffer as a result of ignorance or bureaucratic and educational inertia. My desire to support Ambitious aligns with my professional decision to retrain as a Child Psychotherapist, working with neurodivergent (and other) children in primary, secondary and post-16 educational settings in northern England. I find this work hugely rewarding and worthwhile. But working with individual children and young people is only one (albeit very important) part of the puzzle. The other part is bringing about positive, systemic change, which is why supporting Ambitious about Autism is so close to my heart.

Thanks for reading and I hope you may be able to support Ambitious about Autism through sponsoring my ride.

Best wishes,

Jonny