In October Jane Neary Imperial's Director of Campus Services and Debby Shorley, former Director of Library Services, cycled Sri Lanka for charity.

Many at the College will be familiar with the persuasive powers of Lord Robert Winston, Professor of Science and Society, when it comes to drumming up support for charitable causes. But when Jane Neary, Director of Campus Services, offered to repay Lord Winston a small favour, she hadn’t expected it to involve cycling 400 kilometres around Sri Lanka through searing heat and severe fatigue.

Yet that’s exactly what she found herself doing in October, along with Debby Shorley, former Director of Library Services, Yvonne Konieczna (Surgery and Cancer) and 63 other women in aid of Women for Women and the Genesis Research Trust, which Lord Winston chairs.

The charity funds ground-breaking medical research to support the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of devastating conditions affecting women and babies.

Talking about her experiences on the epic journey, Jane said: “I think the Sri Lankans thought we were mad at first. Quite quickly word got out on the island that these crazy women in pink shirts were going to be coming through! “You felt like you were on the Tour de France because everyone came out of their houses to line the roads and cheer us on and even with limited English shouting ‘go faster lady, go faster’!”

Still, it was no barrels of laughs and at times Jane and company had to dig deep, cycling 90km a day in temperatures of upto 42°C across tough terrain. And it wasn’t entirely without incident either.

“Near the end of the trip a bus came screaming round us closely followed by car. They seemed to have some sort of altercation and nearly crashed into each other as they disappeared over the hill. Debby and I looked at each other as if to say ‘wow, that was close’. And at that moment a herd of five elephants ran out in front of us from the undergrowth with a baby in the middle. It was like something from Wacky Races.”