INDUSTRY RAISES £100,000 WITH TRANSAID’S LONDON TO PARIS BIKE RIDE
8 October 2012
A 40-strong team has raised more than £100,000 for transport industry charity Transaid after completing a 326 km London to Paris cycle ride this weekend. The effort began in London on Friday morning, October 5, reaching the finish line beside the Eiffel Tower on Sunday evening, October 7.
The team endured an entire day of driving torrential rain, a modest number of punctures, plenty of hills, and one mechanical failure so severe that a participant – albeit one who had ridden the entire way on a Brompton folding bicycle – elected to run the last 2 km into Paris, all in the name of the charity.
The ride was organised in partnership with the CILT, the FTA, the RHA and TfL, and was sponsored by Bandvulc.
Already responsible for moving nine million people a day, having fulfilled Transport for London’s (TfL) obligations to transport people around London and to the Games venues during the summer, TfL Commissioner Peter Hendy CBE decided that this was not enough of a challenge, so convinced 13 TfL staff to cycle to Paris and insisted on mending his own punctures, of which he had three on the first day.
Gary Forster, Chief Executive of Transaid, who also participated in the ride, says: “There was a broad mix of participants from across the transport industry, including representatives from some of the largest logistics and passenger transport companies in Europe. We’re very lucky to have such support and grateful that the challengers found the time to leave their busy day jobs to put forth a tremendous effort to raise money for Transaid’s crucial cause.”
Transaid’s cycle challenges have become famous across the industry; since 2006 teams of supporters have saddled-up in Malawi, Kenya, Zambia, Tanzania and Madagascar, but this is the first time Transaid has run a cycle challenge so close to home. Next year, Transaid will host a cycle challenge in Uganda, with the funds continuing to reduce impacts of road crashes throughout the developing world. Forster says the enthusiasm and bonhomie generated on the London to Paris ride is also likely to lead to another European cycle challenge in the future.
The team taking part in the London to Paris event included CILT chairman Neil Ashworth, FTA President Stewart Oades, TfL Commissioner Peter Hendy, Transaid CEO Gary Forster, Transaid Chairman Graeme McFaull and Trustee Clare Bottle. There were also representatives from the CILT, the FTA, Belkin, Backhouse Jones, Hitchenor Wakeford, Iron Mountain, Musgrave Retail Partners, Palmer & Harvey, Bridgend Council, Clipper Logistics, Crossrail, Delin Capital, LaFarge Cement, Manhattan Associates, Norbert Dentressangle, Pie Mapping, and Price Waterhouse Coopers.
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For further information about future Transaid challenges, please visit www.transaid.org or call Agnieszka Kransolucka-Hickman on +44 (0) 20 7387 8136 or aggie@transaid.org.
Note to Editor:
Transaid (www.transaid.org) is an international development agency that aims to improve people’s quality of life in the developing world by making transport more available and affordable. It was founded by Save The Children and the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (UK) and works by sharing skills and knowledge with local people to enable them to put in place and manage efficient transport systems.
Transaid’s core work includes creating transport management systems for the public sector and assisting with the provision of professional driving qualification development and the training of driver trainers. It also assists with teaching preventive vehicle maintenance management and introducing local, low cost transport solutions including its innovative bicycle ambulance. Transaid also helps promote HIV, AIDS and road safety awareness and shares its specialist knowledge with the humanitarian aid sector.
Transaid enjoys strong backing from the transport and logistics industry and the active involvement of its patron, HRH The Princess Royal.
For further press information:
Aggie Krasnolucka-Hickman at Transaid +44 (0)20 7387 8136
Matt Davis or James Keeler at Garnett Keeler +44 (0)20 8647 4467
TRAN/193/12
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