A CHARITY fundraiser feels so strongly about the good cause he is helping he has had their logo tattooed on his arm.

Dean Steed took part in a bike ride in aid of Demelza Hospice Care for Children, which looks after his stepdaughter Amber.

Not content to simply ride his bike 286.9 miles from Sittingbourne in Kent to Paris, the 43-year-old from Bexhill decided to seek a permanent reminder of the hospice’s hard work – with a tattoo.

Nine-year-old Amber attends Demelza’s hospice for respite care as she suffers from tuberous sclerosis, which causes her to have seizures, autism and challenging behaviour.

She needs one-to-one care at all times.

Dean said: “It was all my idea. I’d never done anything like this before, but I spoke to my missus and she was all for it.

“Amber gets respite care at Demelza four hours a week and they are brilliant so I wanted to do it not just for Amber but all the other kids too.”

When he returned from his mammoth bike ride, Dean made the decision to remember it forever by getting the permanent reminder etched into his skin.

Dean had the tattoo – which says Demelza 101 2014 and has a picture of a bike and an Eiffel tower on it – inked on his right leg at the Abstract Armour tattoo parlour in Bexhill, where tattooist Jay gave his time for free.

Dean added: “It was a bit painful.

“I’ve had tattoos before but it’s quite sore as it’s on the muscle but it was worth it for Amber and the other little ones.”

Dean and his partner Karen Shaw, 24, are now hoping to both complete the London to Brighton bike ride together in aid of Demelza.

Demelza works across East Sussex offering a hospice at home care service to children with life-limiting and life threatening conditions and their families as well as short breaks at their Sittingbourne hospice.

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