Building on the success of Colt’s 2012, 2013 & 2014 charity bike rides from London to Paris to Amsterdam to Frankfurt, this year’s charity bike ride is going to make an even bigger impact, with the greatest donation target ever of our employee initiatives!

Over 70 riders, all amateurs from Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Romania, Spain, the UK and the USA will be taking part. Between the 11th and 14th September we will cycle over 445kms in 4 days and go further into mainland Europe: from  Frankfurt to Zurich

To date we have ridden over 1,500 kms and raised aver €150,000 for vulnerable children across Europe. In 2015, we are extending our expected impact to many more children from cities where Colt operates. Each rider will be raising funds for the local charity partner of the city he or she is from! In total, with Colt's matched funding, our target is to raise over €70,000. We need your help!

These charities have been voted by our employees – and we made sure they are contributing greatly to enhance the lives of disadvantaged children of the urban areas where we live and work, through a number of educational, inspirational and life-changing services such as adoption, creative therapy, mentoring, psychological support…

Read more about the charities and the children we’re raising funds for here, including Coram, the charity that will benefit from this JustGiving page of our 33 UK-based riders:

Amsterdam team (Netherlands): the Leefkringhuis 

Barcelona team (Spain): Aldeas Infantiles SOS Cataluna 

Brussels team (Belgium): SASPE http://www.siss.be/repertoire/saspe-reine-astrid 

Dublin team (Ireland): Aware http://www.aware.ie/　 

Frankfurt team (Germany): http://www.caritas.de/csr 

Madrid team (Spain): A.T.Z http://www.atz.es/ 

Paris team (France): Association 18eme Zone https://www.facebook.com/18emeZone 

Milan team (Italy): SOS Villaggi dei Bambini http://www.sositalia.it/ 

Sibiu team (Romania): Steps of Hope http://www.facebook.com/pages/Steps-of-Hope/355104524542820 

Teamwork beyond wind breakers

Of course none of our charitable endeavor is possible without great support throughout the organisation, and from our corporate partners. This year, Infinera (http://www.infinera.com) again stepped up to the plate and agreed to sponsor the costs of the ride - enabling our riders to focus their efforts on fundraising.

Huge thanks must also be made to the support crews who manage logistics, and make sure the team stayed hydrated and fed! Without their support no rider would make it to the end!

Giving back as part of our values

As an organisation, we spend time and energy giving back to our local communities and we are proud that over 18,000 hours volunteered have been delivered since the start of our Corporate Social Responsibility programme in 2009, under the theme of “Children and Education”. Read more about Colt's CSR on www.colt.net/csr