A woman cycling to Africa with her partner to raise money for charity and do voluntary work had her bike stolen from a train at Banbury station yesterday (July 23).

Former teacher Becky Sherwood and her partner Monty quit their jobs around a month ago to embark on their adventure of a lifetime.

After working and raising children for the past 20 years, Becky was keen to make the most of her newfound free time by undertaking a memorable challenge.

Becky said: “My children are getting to the age where they can leave home. So we decided to plan this mad adventure, going down through Europe, then flying to Kenya and continuing through southern Africa to see how far we can get."

Becky Sherwood believes that her bike was stolen from a train as it stopped at Banbury station last evening.

placeholder image — Becky Sherwood believes that her bike was stolen from a train as it stopped at Banbury station last evening.

“Along the way, we will stop and do conservation volunteer work and teaching if possible.”

The pair started their journey in Sheffield, taking in the beautiful Yorkshire countryside before heading to Wales to get some mountain cycling under their belts.

After leaving Wales, they took a train from Wolverhampton to Oxford to spend some time at a camping event before catching a ferry to France on August 7.

However, during the journey to Oxford, Becky’s custom adventure bike was stolen off the train as it stopped at Banbury station at around 6pm.

Becky Sherwood and her partner plan to cycle around Africa, doing voluntary work along the way.

She said: "As we were preparing to leave the train at Oxford, Monty turned to me and said, ‘I think your bike has been stolen’.

“We were both totally shocked; the bike was left hanging on the hooks in the storage section of the train between two carriages.

"It didn’t even occur to us that someone might take the bike because it is so big and heavy. We even removed the pedals from Monty’s bike and turned the handlebars around.”

After speaking with staff and British Transport Police, Becky discovered that the bike was last seen on CCTV at Leamington Spa train station.

Kind-hearted King's Sutton man Chris Blake has donated a bike to be used by Becky until she can find hers or buy a new adventure bike.

Thankfully, Becky’s pannier storage bags were not taken; however, the loss of the custom-built mountain bike is a real setback for the couple and has thrown their trip into jeopardy.

The bike, which the pair had been working on for months, has a distinctive orange Carrera frame, hand-built wheels, extra storage racks and new gears and handlebars.

Becky said: “I have grown very attached to the bike. We have put so much time, money, energy and love into this special bike; it would be amazing to get it back.”

Heroic King’s Sutton man Chris Blake has kindly offered Becky a replacement bike until her original one can be located or she purchases a new adventure mountain bike.

As well as the voluntary work the couple plans to do, they have also set up two online charity fundraisers.

One charity the couple will support is World Bicycle Relief, an organisation that makes bikes and donates them to people in poor communities to be used as an essential means of transport for doctors or children getting to school.

The other charity Monty and Becky will raise money for is the LGBT+ rights charity named All Out, which campaigns for the rights and welfare of LGBT+ citizens around the globe.

To donate to Monty and Becky’s online fundraisers, visit: https://worldbicyclereliefuk.enthuse.com/pf/beckynmontybigbikeride or https://campaigns.allout.org/donate/