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Greg's challenge - 50 years on
I'm taking on a cycle challenge for Voluntary Service Overseas because together we can change lives in northern Uganda.
Event: Greg's "50 years on" cycle ride
£35,260.00 raised of £35,000.00 target
134 donations
My Target:
£35,000.00
£35,260.00 raised so far
How to make a donation
Donate online at - www.justgiving.com/50yearson-for-VSO
By mobile internet Scan this code on your smartphone to go straight to Voluntary Service Overseas's page.
By text message to donate £10 Text FTDU67 £10
to 70070
My story
50 years on...
In the summer of 1962 when Frank Ifield was top of the Charts, Harold Macmillan was in his last year as Prime Minister and Ipswich Town had just been crowned First Division Champions, a bunch of 15 year old boys spent two weeks of the summer cycling up and down the hills of Devon and Cornwall. They stayed in youth hostels, lived on virtually nothing and failed miserably to pick up any girls.
I was one of them.
In June this year four of the group (plus four others) who were all pupils together at Hayes Grammar School in the sixties, are doing the ride again to mark the 50th anniversary of the original trip, to celebrate our 65th birthdays and to try to prove we are still virile youngish men!!
Apart from being 50 years older, considerably heavier and collectively having significantly less hair than last time, there are a few other changes. We plan to start and finish in Dartmouth (last time it was London), only do it for a week and have a support vehicle carrying supplies of oxygen and alcohol!
Some things, however, will be just the same. We will be staying in some of the same youth hostels (God help us), we will be walking up the same hills and it’s extremely unlikely we’ll be picking up any women (especially if we are wearing lycra). In all we plan to cycle 300 very hilly miles!
Given this pathetic attempt to prove that the passing years haven’t really made a difference I have decided to use the ride for another reason – to raise some money for a particular charity, which is why I am writing to you to ask you to sponsor me.
My wife Sue was a VSO volunteer in Uganda back in 1968, and over the past three years she and I have been helping to fund a series of small employment projects in northern Uganda - an area until very recently ravaged by the Lord's Resistance Army, led by Joseph Kony.
We have been to Uganda three times and the stories we have heard from returning child soldiers have been appalling. But even the lives of kids brought up for their own safety in Government camps are sad and chilling. We decided to help by giving money to assist groups of these young people set up their own small sustainable business enterprises. We also fund the cost of volunteers from VSO who help them get started.
The money we have given so far has funded twenty different groups, helping 600 young people in all.
Please read a few of their stories here.
What we have discovered is quite a small amount of money can make a big difference to young people who have lived through a traumatic experience unimaginable to the rest of us. For example:
£30 could buy a breeding pig for a piggery group
£85 could by seeds to help 20 youth grow high value crops to sell at market
£520 could support a group of 10 youth to establish an apiary (bee-keeping project) to produce honey
£1,730 could provide a start-up kit and ingredients for a bakery group of 10 youth (including an industrial oven)
I am asking you to sponsor me on this ride so that we can give more young people in Northern Uganda a chance in life.
Thank you.
Greg Dyke
P.S. Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. Plus, I’m personally covering the JustGiving fees to VSO, so every single pound you give will go straight to helping change lives for disadvantaged children in northern Uganda.
My gallery 10
My updates 1
Check out my photo gallery to see a few pictures from the trip so far...
My charity
Voluntary Service Overseas
Charity Registration No. 313757
VSO is the world’s leading independent international development organisation that works through volunteers to fight poverty in developing countries. VSO's high-impact approach involves bringing people together to share skills, build capabilities, promote international understanding and action, and change lives to make the world a fairer place for all. Everyday around 1,500 VSO volunteers are working in carefully selected placements, sharing their and experience and working to tackle poverty by empowering those really affected by it.
Donations 134
definitely worth seeing the smile of satisfaction on Ron C's face in the pics
Donation by David McKeown on 03/09/12
£10.00
+ £2.50 Gift Aid
I am very happy to support this cause and meet the donation target.
Donation by Bruno Wu on 19/07/12
£2,000.00
Congrats! I dimly recall the 62 trip - a mere slip of a girl when big bro Dave and mates went YHA-ing! Glad you returned safely to tell the tale!!
Donation by Eileen Barnes (nee Hornby) on 19/07/12
£25.00
+ £6.25 Gift Aid
Well done Greg and team. I'm impressed xx
Donation by Saffron Goldup on 11/07/12
Couldn't only give moral support after such a fun time!
Donation by Wally on 08/07/12
£100.00
+ £25.00 Gift Aid
Hey Greg, fantastic feat! Here is another little bit towards your goal. Thanks from VSO!
Donation by Marg Mayne, Chief Exec, VSO on 07/07/12
£20.00
+ £5.00 Gift Aid
Well done Greg and team - a wonderful achievement!
Donation by Hardeep Kaur (VSO UK Board member) on 04/07/12
£20.00
+ £5.00 Gift Aid
Well done Greg! Hope all is well.
Donation by Martha Brass on 04/07/12
£100.00
+ £25.00 Gift Aid
Greg, Congratulations on making the circuit. I hope you enjoyed the pain and felt at least ten years younger at the end.
Donation by James Park on 02/07/12
£20.00
+ £5.00 Gift Aid
Donation by Charlotte Macken, VSO on 02/07/12
£10.00
+ £2.50 Gift Aid
Am I really contributing to charity while you go on holiday? That's not how it usually happens! Cheers
Donation by Richard Waddington on 01/07/12
£50.00
+ £12.50 Gift Aid
Donation by Maria Kadar on 30/06/12
£10.00
+ £2.50 Gift Aid
So does this make you a MAMIL?
Donation by Neil Hudspeth on 30/06/12
A great idea, no doubt executed with your usual panache - you certainly know how to enjoy yourself.
Donation by Chris Kirkman on 30/06/12
£50.00
+ £12.50 Gift Aid
Good luck Greg - you just might need it!!
Donation by stephen dando on 29/06/12
£50.00
+ £12.50 Gift Aid
We reckon you will have even less luck picking up girls this time round... There's just something about the lycra... Enjoy!
Donation by Chris & Mart on 28/06/12
£20.00
+ £5.00 Gift Aid
Very happy I could donate...not so sure about the bike ride...it sounds dangerous...
Donation by Cecile Frot-Coutaz on 27/06/12
It's worth donating just to see your 1962 photos with the tragic knitwear.
Donation by Vicki Barrass on 27/06/12
£100.00
+ £25.00 Gift Aid
Jackie & I are with you every lycra-clad pedal of the way!
Donation by Jackie Howard on 27/06/12
£250.00
+ £62.50 Gift Aid
Good luck and have fun! Robin
Donation by Robin Paxton on 26/06/12
£100.00
+ £25.00 Gift Aid
Enjoy it!
Donation by Chris Jones on 26/06/12
£20.00
+ £5.00 Gift Aid
Good Luck Greg from one who is 50 days older than you, but obviously a lot less fitter than you. I hope it goes/went well.
Donation by Peter Gilham on 26/06/12
£30.00
+ £7.50 Gift Aid
All that early morning hard training in Richmond Park with Brendon will finally be paying off...
Donation by Christina B. on 25/06/12
£100.00
Good luck Greg, from an ex VSO Press Officer!
Donation by Hilary Layton on 25/06/12
£20.00
+ £5.00 Gift Aid
Go for it !
Donation by Helen Boaden on 24/06/12
£50.00
+ £12.50 Gift Aid
Donation summary
- * Online donations£23,790.00
- Offline donations£11,470.00
- Text donations£0.00
- Total raised£35,260.00
- Gift Aid£4,030.00
* Charities pay a small fee for our service. Find out how much it is and what we do for it.
