Momentum’s Head of Channel and Field Marketing, Andile Jonas, will ride from Suikerbosrand to Queenstown in the Eastern Cape from the 11th to 19th April 2018 as part of the annual 1965Ride for education. The purpose of the 850 kilometre ride is to raise funds to provide talented youngsters from disadvantaged backgrounds access to a good education and a much better chance at building a great future for themselves and their families.
This initiative began when Tony Frost, the founder of this Education Endowment Fund, decided to take his bicycle and ride to Queenstown to see how much he could raise to put some kids through school. The first 1965Ride took place in April 2011 with five cyclists riding the full distance and almost 100 cyclists completing it. The ride has since gained popularity over the years and when Andile met Tony, he was inspired.
“Although the Eastern Cape achieved an almost 10% matric pass rate increase in 2017, it was still at the bottom of the class. Every child has a right to quality education and Tony came up with a fun and healthy way to do something to help disenfranchised kids who deserve this quality education. I decided that it is something I couldn’t walk away from and decided to ask Momentum to help me to get involved as it has been proven in the Momentum/Unisa Financial Wellness Indices that a good education contributes to the financial wellness of individuals and communities,” said Andile Jonas.
So far this fund has provided over 50 bursaries in its seven years of existence. The Education Endowment Fund, which is the custodian of the bursary programme, is working hard to create a sustainable fund capable to provide support to more youngsters in the future. Momentum has decided to support this initiative this year as it is in line with our ethos of responsible citizenship and promoting active lifestyles whilst providing opportunities for youngsters to get a better education to one day improve the financial wellness of their families.
All the cyclists are amateur volunteers who strongly believe that the most important priority in our country is to improve education. They all raise their own sponsorships to support this initiative.
For further information, sponsorship opportunities or to sign up for the 1965Ride, please contact Tony Frost on tony@1965ride.co.za and you can follow and send messages of support to Andile on his journey to Queenstown via the Momentum social media platforms:
Twitter: @Momentum_za
Instagram: @MomentumZA
Facebook: @MomentumZA
