The Christmas Spirit is alive and well!!

It seems the spirit of Christmas is alive and well with two recent generous donations being received from Logbridge in Southampton and Lauritzen Fleet Management in Denmark taking the total raised so far to £10,275.

My sincere thanks to John Brown and Karin Halmoe respectively for their support.

Long Way Down supports Riders for Health and UNICEF

In my own small way I am seeking to emulate the epic ride of Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman in Long Way Down. They like me are raising funds for Riders for Health and UNICEF and if you have been watching their Sunday night documetary you will have seen their visits to the Riders for Health programme in Kenya and the UNICEF programme rehabilitating child soldiers. For a short video clip on their work for these charities go to: -

www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/times_appeal/article2924976.ece

Dont' drink too much red wine!

Drinking red wine is bad for you. It's official. I know this because having drunk one or two glasses too many I volunteered to run the London Marathon in April 2008. Anyway, it will help me get fit for the Ride for Life. I needed to lose a few pounds.

Recycle your old bike kit!

Riders for Health - one of the charities I am helping to raise funds for by taking part in the Ride for Life in 2008 has launched a new appeal called 'Riders Recycle'.

The scheme has been set up so that motorcyclists can donate good used biking kit (apart from helmets for obvious safety reasons) so that it can be auctioned to raised money for health workers in Africa.

For more information go to the Riders website at www.riders.org

You might also be interested to know that Riders for Health has been named as one of the Christmas appeals in The Times.

Yahoo Group for 2008 Enduro Africa Riders

If anyone who is reading this blog has also signed up for the 2008 Ride for Life there is a YahooGroup Forum available where you can swap information about your preparations and fundraising etc. Feel free to join up - the more the merrier! Link is as follows: -

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/enduroafrica2008/

Supporters Update

The following is the current list of supporters who have made donations or pledged support: -

Shipping Companies

Anglo-Eastern (IOM)
Delta Marine
Logbridge Ltd
Lauritzen Fleet Mananagement
Norbulk Shipping
OSM
The staff of the Chamber of Shipping
V-Ships Monaco

Unions

Nautilus UK
The members and guest attending the Nautilus UK 150th Anniversary Dinner
D1-MEBA
AIMPE
MUA
Philippines Seafarers Union

Individuals

Robert Woods
Edmund Brookes
Carl Husain
Pat Duncan
Pete Duncan
John McCurdy
Russ Garbutt
Chris Rogers
Su Flynn
Nick Luff
Noel Cooke
John Cooke
The Dickinson Family
Dennis McIntyre
Bob Doyle
Gordon Thompson
John Cameron
Noriko Tomita
Andy MacFarlane
Mark Dickinson

Grand total so far £7722 with some pledgers still to reveal their generosity!

New Charities to Benefit from the Ride for LIfe 2008

EnduroAfrica, the organisers of the Ride for Life have announced new partnerships for the 2008 event (the one I will take part in). EnduroAfrica made the announcement because it wished to assist charities working in the region where the event takes place rather than focus only on Zimbabwe where Riders for Health is currently focused.

The Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, Sentebele - the Princes Fund for Lesotho and UNICEF will now receive support from EnduroAfrica. The aim of the event in 2008 is to raise £300,000 for these amazing causes.

My pledge, to raise £20,000 to be shered between NUMAST Welfare Funds, EnduroAfrica and Riders for Health remains unaffected by this announcement.

Getting my eye in!

Pictured is my new pride and joy (a Yamaha XT660R) purchased (I hasten to add) on the "never never" and with the aim of getting some offroad practice in ahead of 2008!

Shipping Minister Digs Deep for Enduro Africa

Pictured is (former!) UK Shipping Minister Dr Stephen Ladyman as he makes a generous contribution to my fund raising activities during my unions recent Biennial General Meeting in Liverpool. Dr Ladyman hails from Liverpool and is also a very keen motorcyclist.

Big Fundraising Boost

Delegates and guests attending my unions 150th Anniversary Dinner and Biennial General Meeting in Liverpool in May donated a total of £1460.20 to my Enduro Africa fundraising efforts. A big thank you to everyone who took part and made that possible!

Off road training

Although still some 18 months off I have been putting in some off-road training with my nine year old son Kai. We went up to Mildenhall Stadium with the Geoff Mayes MXTryout and had a sensational afternoon on a couple of Kwackers!

New Ride for Life Film

Dear Supporters

Check out the new film about the Ride for Life (its in three parts)

www.cassproductions.co.uk/video/RIDE4LIFENEW01.wmv

www.cassproductions.co.uk/video/RIDE4LIFENEW02.wmv

www.cassproductions.co.uk/video/RIDE4LIFENEW03.wmv

You Tube!

Check out the video on You Tube compiled by Michael Guy of MCN who participated in Enduro Africa 2006. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0A4xVW8Sjw

Fundraising update Feb 07

Great news on the fundraising front; V-Ships of Monaco have agreed to make a donation of £1000. Many thanks to Brian Martis. This takes the total pledged and raised so far to £5,400. Only another £14,600 to go!

Great News - close to first target!

With two recent donations I am now very close to my first fundraising goal of £5000 - the minimum I need to raise to participate in Enduro Africa 2008.

The Australian Insitutue of Power and Marine Engineers (AIMPE) pledged A$1000 and my cousin Su Flynn donated £50 which takes me to £4,400. A huge thanks to Terry and Martin at AIMPE and to Su.

My target is £20,000 for Riders for Health and NUMAST Welfare Funds so some way to go yet but with another 18 months of fundraising left I am quietly confident I will achieve my goal. BUT DONT LET THAT PUT YOU OFF HELPING ME!

A message for my supporters

The inability to tackle the huge distances of Africa's rural landscape is stopping health and development agencies from making an impact on the continent's fight against poverty and disease. The unique passion and imagination shared by motorcyclists across the world allowed Riders for Health to envisage the solution to this health crisis.

Riders for Health grew directly out of the motorcycle community in the 1980s and since then they have been working on a solution to one of Africa's most pressing problems - how can health services which prevent and cure disease actually be delivered to the rural communities where they are so desperately needed?

The answer, of course, is by using well-maintained motorcycles. Easy to say, but hard to bring about. It's been a long slog but once in a while along comes something that really accelerates the process, something that quite dramatically brings the final goal of complete mobility for all health workers in Africa closer.

Enduro Africa is just such a leap forward. And it comes, just as Riders fro Health did, right from the heart of the motorcycle fraternity. In itself, that should tell the world something about motorcyclists.

On the Enduro Africa trip I will ride through some of the most beautiful country in the world - including the Drakensberg mountain range, where Ridesr for Health started its first national programme in 1991. Home of the infamous 'Roof of Africa' rally, the Drakensberg is often called God's own motorcycle country. I'll see why.

And before I leave to go home, I will hand the motorcycle you have helped purchase over to the Riders fro Health programme for Zimbabwe. A group of health workers and Riders' Zimbabwean staff will meet me to explain their work in more detail. After that, Riders will keep me in touch with what my bike is achieving in its life-saving work.

Will what you (hopefully!) help me achieve make a difference? Well, after Riders for Health got the first district in Zimbabwe fully mobile (Binga district, near Lake Kariba) malaria deaths dropped by 20%! Now that really is a difference. And so the Yamaha AG200 will save hundreds of lives.

Enduro Africa raised an amazing donation of £203,200 from the 2006 event and Riders for Health say this money will make a huge impact.

I know I will have a great ride and even more than that, a great, probably life-changing experience. I hope toi share that experience with all of my supporters via this blog.

Quick Fact

Riders for Health has worked for over 15 years on the problem of delivery systems for healthcare in Africa. They work with ministries of health, UN agencies and other NGOs. Their main resource centre is in the UK while their programme staff are all nationals of the countries in which they work.

Riders for Health is self-funded with no government support. Their origins are in the sport of motorcycle racing and successful fundraising at motorcycling events and races enables them to support their pioneering field initiatives, ensuring that motorcycles continue to save lives in Africa.

In 2006 Enduro Africa raised £200,000 for Riders for Health. In 2008 I hope to add significantly to the amounts raised. To help me and to help the delivery of health care in Africa make a donation using the link to the right.>

Cheque handover at Chamber of Shipping

Tim Springett presenting me with a cheque for £105 towards Enduro Africa, being the proceeds of ticket sales from the Chamber of Shippings annual quiz evening last November. Tim said "We are delighted to support Mark in his venture. It's very brave of him but we're sure he'll enjoy it and it's for an excellent cause."

Latest News on fundraising

Just had some great news from one of my trade union colleagues. John McCurdy in the USA has made a personal donation and a donation on behalf of his union - District 1 MEBA. Thank you John your support is truly appreciated.

Also my family and friends are rallying around. My Cousin Pete Duncan has made a donation and my Aunty Pat too. Thanks guys!

My MZ racing buddies are also rallying round with Carl Husain and Chris Rogers helping out with sponsorship - thanks mateys!

Total thus far raised is £3,950 against my target of £20,000.

The Enduro Africa Route

This is the awesome 1550 mile (2500km) route in South Africa that I and 100 or so Enduro Africa recruits will ride in November 2008 to raise money for Riders for Health (and in my case) NUMAST Welfare Funds.

Total Raised So Far

So far I have received corporate donations totalling £2,600 from:-

Nautilus UK £1000
OSM £1000
Norbulk Shipping £500
Anglo-Eastern (IOM) £100

And personal donations totalling a further £1000 from: -

Edmund Brookes
Robert Woods
The staff of the Chamber of Shipping
Russ Garbutt
Carl Husain
Chris Rogers
Peter Duncan

Bringing my current total to £3600 with 23 months to go - only another £16400 needed to reach my target!

A big thank you to all those who have helped thus far.

The Yamaha AG200

This is the trusty Yamaha AG 200 that I will ride for 1550 miles through South Africa starting in Port Elisabeth and ending (hopefully) in Port Alfred.

The AG200 is basically a bike built for farmers and, so far as I am aware, is not readily available in the UK. The bike is a single cylinder 4-stroke of 199cc and has a 5-speed gearbox and is capable of pulling the skin of a rice pudding (just). Bore and stroke is 67mm x 55.7mm and it weighs in at 112kg carrying 10 litres of fuel.

Over 100 of these bikes will be donated to Health workers in Africa and be maintained by Riders for Health. Please support my challenge by making a donation using the link in the sidebar to the right. Thanks.

The Casualties 2006!!

Today's edition of MCN has a double page spread on the November 2006 Enduro Africa event. If you neeed any proof that I have set myself a stiff challenge check it out (3rd Jan edition). Apparently, virtually everyone fell off a some point even ex-world motorcycle racer Randy Mamola. Most of the riders came away unscathed but some had some serious injuries including 4 broken ribs; a punctured lung; a broken right arm; a broken right tibula and fibula; a broken left collarbone (check - done that twice already and my scaphoid); a broken right shoulder and a broken left ankle. Nine guys did not complete the challenge!