There are plenty of ways to raise money for charity. Our Logistics Business colleague Ian Wright has chosen one of the more challenging options: cycling more than 450km across Tanzania in just five days.
Ian is setting off this week as part of Team Transaid for the charity’s Kilimanjaro to Coast Cycle Challenge, which will take riders from the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro to the Indian Ocean.
Along the way, they’ll face more than 2,700m of climbing, as well as the heat, terrain and inevitable physical exhaustion that come with a five-day cycle ride of this magnitude.
In other words, this isn’t going to be a gentle Sunday morning spin. But it is all for a very worthwhile cause.
A cause close to home
Transaid works across sub-Saharan Africa to transform lives through safe, available and sustainable transport. Its programmes include improving road safety, strengthening transport systems and helping people access vital healthcare – work that has a very direct and tangible impact on people’s lives.
Ian’s colleague, Peter MacLeod, is a Transaid Ambassador, and so this is a cause particularly close to his heart. Peter says:
“I have also had the privilege of travelling through Tanzania myself, around 10 years ago. It was a genuinely life-enhancing experience, but also an eye-opening one. Seeing the country first-hand – its communities, roads, distances and often incredibly demanding terrain – gave me a much greater appreciation of the practical challenges faced by people who rely on transport to access healthcare, education, employment and essential services.
“That makes Ian’s challenge particularly meaningful to me. The kilometres he and his fellow riders will cover are not simply numbers on a cycling computer; they represent the kind of environment in which Transaid is working every day.”
The final push
As Ian makes his last-minute preparations – making sure his pack is under-weight, checking his lube supplies (no-one wants any chafing!), and completing his final training to get him in top shape – he is still just a fraction short of his fundraising target.
So, before he tackles the first kilometre, we’re asking you to help him get over that particular finishing line. If you’d like to or are able to help Ian reach his fundraising target, you can support his Kilimanjaro to Coast Cycle Challenge here:
https://www.justgiving.com/page/ian-wright-logistics-business
A huge thank you to everyone who has already supported Ian and helped him get this far. Your generosity has already made a real difference, so a big shout-out to main sponsor Europa Warehouse, as well as generous donors GenieGrips, PALLITE Group Ltd, and Prologis UK. It would be fantastic to see his existing supporters joined by a few more members of the Logistics Business community.
A big Logistics Business cheer
We’d also like to give a special shout-out to BIFA, the headline sponsor of the challenge, and Chelsea Group, supporting sponsor, for helping to make the event possible.
And to Ian: from all of us at Logistics Business, good luck – and good fortune and fortitude! You’ve got 450km, 2,700m of climbing and five days between Kilimanjaro and the Indian Ocean. That’s quite a logistics operation in itself. We’ll be cheering you on – as well as all your other intrepid co-cyclists – all the way.
Click here to listen to Ian talking about his upcoming ride with Transaid CEO Caroline Barber on a special episode of Logistics Business Conversations.
