SHE has raised thousands of pounds for charities, supporting the country’s most vulnerable and impoverished adults and children.

But Kim Haddaway fears she will have to put the brakes on her latest fundraising challenge after thieves stole her bicycle just weeks before she sets off on a cross-Channel bike ride.

The veteran fundraiser from Fareham has launched a desperate appeal to track down her beloved custom-made bike in time to for the London to Paris bike ride on Wednesday, July 17.

Miss Haddaway is tackling the 325- mile three-day route in aid of The Big Issue, the latest in a long line of charity challenges which has seen her collect £12,000 for good causes, visiting South America, Africa and Asia along the way.

The 56-year-old, who has collected £200 towards the ride so far, said: “I’m devastated – people have given me sponsorship money expecting me to do it and have been urging me to go for it.

“I’m really upset because I can’t go out and buy another one, and I’m really worried I won’t be able to get one in time.

“I am spending all my time desperately trying to find something rather than fundraising.”

The homeless centre relief worker returned home to her terraced house in Deanes Park Road on April 17 to discover thieves had climbed over neighbouring fences to steal the bike, which was especially made for her by homeless people at Jordan House where she previously worked.

Miss Haddaway, who had been on holiday in Spain for a month, reported the theft to police but they have failed to track it down.

She has borrowed bikes from family and friends for training but is yet to find a robust enough one suitable for the challenge.

She added: “You never expect it to happen to you. Then it hits you that it’s gone and there’s little chance you are going to get it back.

“It’s a double whammy because it’s really sentimental to me, made by homeless people improving their skills, and I was quite tearful.”

The ride follows her running the Brighton Marathon three years ago and running 10km dressed as a gorilla and carrying a ukulele in London in 2011.

In 2003 the Daily Echo reported on a round-the-world series of events she completed, including scaling Mount Fuji in Japan, climbing part of Mount Kilimanjaro, in Tanzania, trekking to Machu Picchu in Peru, and walking on the Great Wall of China.

The bike is a hybrid model with a silver/grey-coloured large frame.

Police spokesman Duncan Smith urged anyone who witnessed the theft, knows the whereabouts of the bike or is offered one for sale matching its description to contact the force on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.