Lily's latest role - Sunday's London to Brighton Cycle

A young actor, who's worried about her mother who has had ME for over 20 years, is taking part in one of Britain’s best-known early summer events this weekend to raise money for the ME Association.

Lily Anderson, from Kingston-upon-Thames in south London, will be pedalling to stay part of the pack on the 55-mile London-Brighton Bike Ride on Sunday (15th June). The first wave of riders usually starts arriving at the sea front at Brighton in a little over three hours from the start.

“I’ve never done it before so it will be quite a challenge,” Lily told us. “But I’ll be riding with a friend, whose mum has MS, so we will be there for each other.”

Thousands of riders will set off from Clapham Common before taking on a route which includes two fairly big climbs over the Surrey Hills and the South Downs and then a glide down towards the finish line at Marine Parade. Novice riders who have done it in the past for the MEA have always told us they end up feeling quite exhilarated!

On her fundraising page, 24-year-old Lily wrote that her own mum, Natalie, was one of the “kindest, most compassionate and hilarious” people she knew. “But she suffers, like many others, with memory fog, headaches, fatigue, aches and other infections as a result.

“She had to see 30 specialists before getting a diagnosis, many of whom had no idea what it was or how to treat it. She has been suffering with ME for over 20 years but, unfortunately, the research is still miniscule.”

Photos show Lily and her mother Natalie, the route of the London to Brighton Bike Ride and Lily on the balcony at her flat in Kingston.

Lily, a schools drama workshop facilitator and coach, moved earlier this year from the family home near Arundel, West Sussex, to London to pursue her career. She's a graduate of the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts.

She’s already working the highly-competitive audition merry-go-round. But, while she is waiting to be offered her first juicy role, she’s writing something which she believes might move the dial in the way in which a largely indifferent world reacts to any mention of ME.

“I’m writing a play at the moment which could reduce the stigma and invisibility attached to the illness, by helping to change people’s minds about it”, said Lily.

“It’s all about my mum and her relationship with ME and how this has affected our relationship. It’s a two-hander and I've called it, ‘The Weight of Invisible Things'.”

Can something as unseen and out-of-mind as ME land a solid punch in the national psyche in the form of a play from this early-career actor/writer? For the moment, we will have to wait and see.

Lily wants to test the play out at somewhere like the Edinburgh Fringe. “I’d love to take it to the Fringe but the earliest I could get it in there would be August 2027.”

So, first, please help Lily with her cycling challenge on Sunday. If you would like to donate to her fundraiser, please visit: