Crowland joins effort to raise £3,000 for tandem bike to help give blind teenager Brandon Edwards 'a new purpose in life'

A Crowland teenager who tragically lost his sight has been "given his life back" after a phenomenal fundraising effort.

Brandon Edwards (14), who went blind after suffering a sports-related injury in September 2017, will soon be the proud owner of a brand new tandem bike thanks to a flood of donations from individuals, businesses and sports clubs.

More than £3,000 has been raised in just five days for Brandon, who took up cycling seriously just six months ago when he joined the Crowland Wheelers club.

Dave Chapman, the cycling club's founder, said: "Brandon has been riding out with us for about three or four months, having started off cycling as just something to do.

"It's contributed to him losing weight and given Brandon something to focus on as well.

"After taking him out cycling a few times, we came up with the idea of getting him a more modern, reliable tandem bike because the one he has now is about 50 years old.

"We initially set a £3,000 target but having reached the total, we're considering how we can try and help others in Crowland who are in the same situation as Brandon."

Donations towards the so-called Project T4B Buy a Tandem for Brandon, runner-up in the 13-18 age group at last year's Crowland Young Achievers' Award, have come from Australia and Germany, as well as Crowland itself.

Alison Edwards, Brandon's mum, said: "Crowland is an amazing place to live and we're just totally overwhelmed that the fundraising for Brandon would be like this.

"It all started with Crowland Wheelers when one of the club members asked Brandon: 'What do you miss the most?'

"Brandon said: 'Cycling' and then he was talked into riding out with Crowland Wheelers.

"The club kindly bought Brandon an old tandem bike so his dad could ride out with him.

"But when it started to go wrong, a friend of mine said: 'Why don't you set up a page online for people to donate towards getting Brandon a new tandem bike?'

"My friend took the page on for us five days ago and now Brandon is going up to a place where they make tandem bikes."

Brandon's love of cycling has become so strong that his ambition now is to become a professional para-cyclist.

He said: "It's unbelievable to know how many people have donated and it's very nice that Crowland Wheelers have helped me so much.

"I absolutely love cycling and because of people like Dave Chapman and Dave Rowlett from Crowland Wheelers, I want to be a cyclist for a living."

Dave Rowlett said: "Brandon is an inspiration because he doesn't really see that there's anything different about him.

"Because the fundraising has gone so well, we want to try and carry it on so Brandon can help somebody else."

Alison said: "We want to say how much we appreciate everybody, including those who gave anonymously, for their donations.

"Crowland Wheelers have given Brandon his life back and he now has a new purpose in life."

To donate, go to www.justgiving.com and then search under Project T4B.