As a kid growing up in iner city Liverpool nothing gave quite as much relief as getting on my bike and peddaling mile after mile into the surrounding countryside. I'd go for hours often returning in the dead of night to bewildered yet ironically unconcerned parents. Cycling gave me an escape but it also gave me some sense of perspective, it was probably my early hatred of the car and my love of the neighbouroing countryside, which combined into an adolescant concern for the natural environment. That was the late 80's and early 90's back then caring for the environment branded many of us as freaks, dolphin lovers and simply people who didn't get the immediacy of other concerns. Since those days much has changed. I've grown old, the grey hairs abound and I'm no longer a Liverpudlian!  While awareness of environmental issues may have increased our catastreophic destruction of the natural environment appears simply to be spiralling out of control. We now live in a world where many of the world's poorest people are suffering the direct results of a greedy industrial west. Low lying lands inhabited by poor agrarian farmers suffer from irregular weather patterns and the constant threat of rising sea levels.

On December the 8th I will join a team of people cycling from different parts of the UK (in my case Birmingham) to Copenhagan. This ride is a simple small attempt to encourage the leaders of the worlds wealthiest nations to take climate change much more seriously. There is also a secondary aim which is to encourage ordinary citizens to radically reduce their carbon footprint by cycling more and driving less.

All of the money raised goes to help the work of Christian Aid with those whose lives are directly affected by the immediate threat of climate change. The costs of the trip have already been covered by one very generous donor. Sponsoring this trip is a simple means of giving help to those who urgently need it. For many millions of people climate change is not about warmer, or for that matter, wetter, holidays but rather about watching their land, their livelihood, their ancient patterns of life sink under rising seas.  

I intend to blog the trip so you'll be able to follow day by day progress (more details to follow). To those from Brum there will be a welcome home event 'Wheels of change' held on Saturday 19th December at Ward End Methodist Church. This should give you a much needed break from Christmas mania. This event will include a slide presentation of the trip, quiz, games and the obligatory curry!! For tickets drop me an email and we'll put you on the list.

So go on dig deep, give generously and get on ya bike!!

Blessings

Andi Smith