EnviroLink Forum

Hi all!

I've struggled with confidence and anxiety for quite a while and I have found the transition to Uni to be somewhat difficult, although I've found my housemates in 3rd year to be really supportive and in particular my housemate Sophie.

With climate change being front page news, with many local governments declaring a climate emergency, I decided that I wanted to do something to help raise awareness whilst also going out of my comfort zone and challenging myself. I managed to find out about the World Naked Bike Ride - a fantastic peaceful protest ride in towns and cities across the UK to raise awareness for the vulnerability of cyclists and remove dependence on fossil fuels.

After some research I decided to take the plunge and take part in the London ride last summer. After chatting about it with Sophie she decided that she would also be keen to take part as a keen environmentalist and also to provide me with some support. The ride is classified 'as bare as you dare' so we both agreed that we wouldn't go the full hog but we would ride in our underwear.

We got an early train up to London with our bikes and made our way to sunny Hyde Park and joined everyone else for the start of the ride. We both got ready in Hyde Park where I stripped down to just my boxers whilst Sophie stripped down to just a pair of knickers.

The ride was absolutely amazing with so many people being so supportive with a common core value of helping to protect the environment, and the ride helped me so much with my confidence and anxiety issues - I'm so grateful to have Sophie as a friend and I would urge anyone who is struggling with anxiety to look to their circle of friends for support! University can be difficult but there are always people who are willing to listen.