29 June 2026
Vijay Anand, head of optometry at Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, swapped walking the hallways of the hospital for cycling the open road in aid of the Moorfields Eye Charity.
Anand joined a challenge to cycle from London to Paris through English countryside and rural France alongside a group of charity fundraisers.
Through his fundraising page, Anand raised more than £3880 for Moorfields Eye Charity.
Speaking to OT about the decision to take on the challenge, Anand said: “I thought it would be something different and interesting to do. I'm not a cyclist so I thought this was something I wasn’t going to be able to do without putting in the training and that was important to me.”
On seeing that it was possible to raise money for Moorfields Eye Charity through the excursion, the decision was sealed and Anand signed up alongside eight friends.
The group of approximately 45 cyclists set off from Blackheath Common on 10th June to reach Dover by 4pm to catch the ferry.
“We covered 85 miles, cycling the equivalent of climbing Ben Nevis with 5000 feet of elevation that day,” Anand shared.
This was made more challenging as rain set in during the afternoon and lasted through the journey to Dover.
The second day saw cyclists travel 71 miles from Calais to Abbeville with another elevation equivalent to a climb of the Scottish mountain.
Anand reflected: “Day two was consistent rain and 25 mile per hour winds for pretty much the whole day.”
On the third day, cyclists left Abbeville and journeyed for 65 miles to Beauvais, climbing the equivalent elevation of a hike of Snowdon.
The final day saw the cyclists travel the final 50 miles to Paris, first stopping in Parc Monceau where the group gathered and cheered for each arriving member of the challenge.
Once gathered, the group rode as a peloton through the city, to the Arc de Triomphe, and ending at the Eiffel Tower, in what Anand describes as “what was by then glorious sunshine.”
Along the journey, Anand reflected: “One of the leads reminded us that we were all doing this for charity and that there are so many people supported by the charities who, for various reasons, would not be in a position to carry out this journey, and that putting ourselves through this in order to support them was something really powerful.”
He reflected: “I did feel that – we work with a lot of patients with eye conditions, some very visually impaired patients, and they have struggles day-in, day-out they have to manage, face, and do remarkably with.”
The community-spirit of the cyclists was also an encouragement along the journey.
Anand shared: “Every single individual, no matter how experienced they were, or how old or young they were, was looking out for each other. If you had stopped for any reason, someone would stop and check on you.”
“It was a very collaborative group,” he shared.
An added benefit of the experience was being able to completely disconnect, Anand shared: “You can’t check your emails.”
“When you are out there for such a long period of time, it does give you time to think, and you are quite peaceful,” he told OT, adding wryly: “Some of the time – when it’s not raining and windy,”
Having completed the challenge, Anand said: “I was really in awe of the amount of support I received from numerous people – 134 individuals sponsored me. The fact people had the faith in me meant a lot to be able to then carry it out.”
Will Anand continue to cycle?
He told OT: “The group of friends I completed it with met up on a Saturday morning at 7 o’clock, which doesn’t sound like a very pleasant thing to do, but considering we started in February when it was zero degrees through to May when it was 18 degrees, it was very pleasant. We’ve all said we’ll continue to do that.”
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