Riding for a cause

A PASSION for cycling which resulted in two staff members at Saint Giles taking on an event at this year's aQuellé Tour Durban to raise awareness for the non-profit organisation has grown in leaps and bounds, with 15 riders now signing up to take part in the Tsogo Sun Amashova Cycle Classic on Sunday on behalf of Saint Giles.

Jean Erasmus and Marc Davies started cycling together last year to get fit, and after deciding they weren't ready for the 2016 Amashova, they trained hard to take part in the Tour Durban, where they exceeded their expectations by beating their target finish time by 40 minutes.

“The initiative started with Jean and Marc, and we decided to put together a team for the Shova. We sent out invitations to people on social media, on our database and to our board directors, and had a great response. We asked the cyclists to do the 65km event, in celebration of our 65th anniversary this year, but some have chosen to do the full 106km. This is all part of an advertising drive for Saint Giles,” said Brenda Craig from Saint Giles.

Jean said she was addicted to cycling and the fact that she could ride for Saint Giles was a bonus. “Since the Tour Durban we have taken part in three MTB events. It is a nice past time, we are doing this for a good cause and have received a lot of positive feedback from people who have seen us riding for the organisation,” she said.

Marc said he was looking forward to his first Shova. “I'm passionate about riding, especially because I'm doing this for Saint Giles,” he said.

Rider, Cindy Etherington, said from a personal perspective, she always aspires to give back and this was her reason for riding in this year's event, representing Saint Giles.

Natasha Lee, who is a member of KZN Women in Business, said she had been approached by Saint Giles to take part in the race on its behalf and she was very excited to do it. Her father, Peter van Niekerk, said Natasha persuaded him to take part as well, and as he was very involved with an NPO in Chesterville, he was definitely the right person to ask to ride for a cause!

Mark Whitlock said he had put together a corporate video for Saint Giles and saw first hand the work Saint Giles does for the handicapped in Durban and the impact the NPO has. “The organisation is amazing, and if they can spend their time working so hard for the handicapped, I can use my time trying to raise funds and awareness,” he said.

Dinesh Wijeyawardana, one of the three cyclists taking on the full 106km Amashova, said he was going to take part in the race this year anyway, and when he found out he could do it for a good cause, it was a 'no brainer.'

Managing director of Saint Giles, Terry Rennie, thanked the riders for being part of the team and for getting Saint Giles' name out there on the day.

Cyclists will be doing their own private sponsorship drives, however if anyone wants to support them, they should contact Brenda on brenda@saintgiles.org.za.