Joel Redhead and Shane Cole spent five gruelling days scooting from the Wirral to Hull on children’s scooters, raising almost £64,000 for baby loss charity Chasing Rainbows.
Joel Redhead and Shane Cole reach the East Riding of Yorkshire boundary on their scooters(Image: Submitted – Joel Redhead)
Two dads have raised tens of thousands of pounds for a baby loss support charity by travelling 157 miles from the Wirral to Hull – on children’s scooters. Joel Redhead and Shane Cole teamed up to take on the “unique” challenge, dubbed Tiny Wheels Big Journey, so far raising almost £64,000 for baby loss charity Chasing Rainbows. The pair finished on Wednesday, taking five days to scoot their way across the country.
Dad-of-two Joel, who is from East Hull, said: “We put tonnes of hours in. It was a hectic five days. We were on the scooters for 10 hours a day, so it was quite flat out really. I am quite sore. When I first came home I thought that I was okay and I’d just done a very intense leg workout. It must’ve been the adrenaline and a few days later it hit me like a tonne of bricks. I basically thought I’d smashed it and then I felt like an old man!”
Joel, 32, and Shane, 33, both have huge followings on social media. It is not the first challenge Joel has undertaken for the charity. Last year, his charity walk raised over £100,000 and helped the Brough-based charity expand to help people across the globe. Joel, who is dad to Esme, 11 and Indie, six, said it was only when his own family experienced devastating child loss that he realised how commonplace it was – yet it is something rarely spoken about. The cause is inspired by Joel’s sister’s experience of losing her son, Jude, in November 2024.
“When you see the figures of how many people go through miscarriages or still births, it’s crazy,” Joel said. “That’s why I like speaking about Jude so much, because these babies are still babies. They should be spoken about. The biggest thing for our family is to have Jude’s name remembered forever. I feel like there’s such a taboo around it and it needs to be spoken about instead of being something to be scared of. It’s more awkward not saying anything at all or acknowledging it. All these parents just want their child to be remembered and not forgotten.
“Because of my relationship with my sister, I was really scared of the effects losing a child would have on her health, and her husband’s. Turns out that they came across a lovely lady called Sam who runs Chasing Rainbows. She provided them with the most impeccable support to give them what they needed when they lost their baby. The fundraisers are a thank you for looking after my sister.”
Joel pitched the idea to Shane, who agreed to come on board. Joel’s initial idea was to walk backwards for the entire 157 miles. Shane refused, but took inspiration from watching his own children ride their scooters. Last Wednesday the boys embarked on their five-day mission, starting at West Kirby Beach and finishing on Humber Street on Wednesday. They documented the whole event on social media.
“We wanted to keep it unique and get people addicted to watching it. It’s so difficult but still has an element of fun in there, to see two grown men flying through your city. After two days our handlebars broke – me and Shane are both 6ft 1 – and we were bending down so much the handlebars wouldn’t stay high and we were bending over, our backs were in agony.”
A loyal follower met them at the end of day two with new scooters – which they’d bought for £60 from a local toy shop – and they carried on to Hull, with supporters coming to cheer them on. Now, Joel says he looks at the scooter with pride and enjoys seeing his daughters playing with them.
“I can’t help but look at them,” he said. “My kids are obsessed with them so I’ve been taking them to school on these scooters. We are really proud of ourselves for what we’ve achieved. To come home to see your daughter playing on the scooter you’ve travelled 157 miles on, it’s quite wholesome.”
Joel and Shane, who is from Coventry, both have social media accounts that have garnered huge followings. Joel says it means a lot to his family that Shane would offer to help. “My sister cries every time she talks about it, then I cry,” he said. “She’s really proud of us. She adores Shane for getting involved. He’s got a huge platform and he has no connection to my family, but he’s become part of the family. The fact that he took it upon himself to leave his family and put his time to do something he had no connection to is really special. Social media can get such a bad name, and sometimes it has the right to, but there’s so much good on there in terms of meeting people who you’d never have met. My sister is super proud of him.”
Follow Joel on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook at TikTok at @RedheadResidence and Shane can be found at @ShaneColeOfficial. Their Just Giving page is: https://www.justgiving.com/page/tinywheelsbigjourney
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