Johnny Appleton plans to carry out the 1,500-mile journey on his trusty ‘fixed-wheel’ bike

A VOLUNTEER is preparing to cycle to each of Childline’s national centres where he will spend four hours at each base answering the phones, before finishing off his journey by running the London Marathon.

Johnny Appleton, 40, plans to carry out the mammoth 1,500-mile voyage across the hills of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on a “fixed-wheel” bike, with just one gear, as part of his bid to raise money for the children’s charity.

He has volunteered for them for more than a decade.

Mr Appleton – who said he wanted his gravestone to read “‘Johnny Appleton, Childline Volunteer’, and that’s all” – described the service as “vital”, adding: “It’s not a luxury. We need to have a place that listens to young people. I think that we don’t value young people in our society or respect what’s happening to them just because they’re young.

“And yeah, I think that Childline goes a way to balancing that imbalance.”

The massage therapist and life model intends to ride between 80 and 100 miles each day to make up enough ground to complete the expedition in a month, before running in the marathon “just to let my legs know I love them!”

Initially taking the train up to Scotland, from there he will set off to all 12 bases across the UK by bike, apart from a ferry to Northern Ireland and back. He plans to dye his beard blue to match the Childline’s colour.

Mr Appleton, who lives with his 19-year-old son Toby in Canonbury, began at the children’s charity in his 20s after reading a news report that said just one in three calls were answered due to a lack of counsellors.

“I was like ‘how can I know this and not do something about it?’” he said of the charity, which has become a mainstay of his life.

“Not to say some shifts are not horrendous – some shifts are hard – but some shifts are wonderful,” he said. “Some shifts are peaceful, some shifts are busy. But after I’ve done it, I always feel I’ve done something where I’ve engaged and it ­doesn’t feel like I’ve ever wasted my time when I’m there.”

In 2018, he and a friend ran from the most westerly point of Wales to the most easterly point of England to raise awareness about a campaign around suicide treatment.

Childline, now into its 37th year, started as a call-in segment of the BBC television programme That’s Life, fronted by Dame Esther Rantzen.

A national service was born, and today Mr Appleton’s branch gets around 1,000 calls a day.

Mr Appleton is accepting any offers of help with bike parts, panniers and maintenance, but is also welcoming any blue accessories for the bike or a costume for himself.

He says he is happy to go pant-less through the Scottish leg – for the right price – if someone will lend him a blue kilt.

If you would like to donate or offer support, get in touch at www.justgiving.com/page/tourdechildine