Firstly I’ll just say, I know that the LAA is the chosen charity for London Bikers, which is a great cause which I fully support.
I would like to do something this year to try and raise some money to go towards a charity that helps with prostate cancer.
Well I’m no good at sport so doing something sporty is out of the question. What I’ve been thinking about though is doing some sort of motorcycle challenge. Something like a 2000 mile ride to be completed in 36 hours. Or, passing into 10 different countries within 48 hours, something like that.
It has to be something challenging, it can’t be easy, I’d like to raise as much money as possible. I will cover all other costs myself so 100% of all donations will go to charity.
Would anyone like to suggest an idea? Or offer some views on the whole thing?
Whatever I did I’d take pictures to prove it, post them up live on twitter along with little written updates etc…
How about working out a route through some part of Europe - try to knock off as many of these as possible…
AlbaniaAndorraArmeniaAustriaAzerbaijanBelarusBelgiumBosnia/HerzegovinaBulgariaCroatiaCyprusCzechiaDenmarkEstoniaFinlandFranceGeorgiaGermanyGreeceHungaryIcelandIrelandItalyKazakhstanLatviaLiechtensteinLithuaniaLuxembourgMacedonoaMaltaMoldovaMonacoMontenegroNetherlandsNorwayPolandPortugalRomaniaRussiaSan MarinoSerbiaSlovakiaSloveniaSpainSwedenSwitzerlandTurkeyUkraineUnited Kingdom
Vatican City
You don’t need to leave the country to do something like the four corners challenge. Land’s End to John O’Groats then St David’s to Lowestoft - about 1900 miles in 36 hours.
Haha Simon that’s pretty inspiring! I’m gonna go for a short burst of intense endurance riding though. It’s cheaper for me, and I won’t have to take a bunch of time off work. Although I could see how many of those countries I could tick off in 72 hours, that could be fun.
Guiliano, thanks for the suggestion. I didn’t think about going across as well, Land’s End - John O’Groats is the usual bit it might be nice to do the other opposites.
Or another thing I’ve just thought of, I could try doing the Three Peaks Challenge (climb the highest mountain in England Scotland Wales in 24 hours) and ride between them.
Also what’s the best way to raise money? Just ask friends and family to sponsor me, putting money in? Or do I go for a more corporate route, approach Kawasaki to see of they’ll donate some money as I’ll be doing it on my Ninja… Or maybe I dunno red bull or monster energy drinks might want to throw some in for the cause if I get photos of me swigging their drinks or whack their stickers on my bike perhaps?
Does anyone know how to go about approaching corporate sponsors?
I would ask the companies mentioned for sponsorship.
I’m sure one will support its a good cause. If only one of them helps.
It’s people like you that help medical research into new treatments and drugs.
Also I don’t know if the prostate cancer charity (not sure whats it call) has a newsletter as some do. You might find the the readers and such might give you a plug and sponsorship. I know Cardiac risk do.
Maybe even a t shirt to put over your leathers promoting them.
I find sponsoring people to do something fun a bit strange. Why don’t you cost up the entire trip (fuel, tires, insurance and servicing) and then forefit that money and give it to charity? That will probably come to a lot more than the (sponsorship) money you’ll get from your peers.
That is a curious suggestion Joby… Perhaps you might want to rethink that as it sort of sounds like you’re out to poo poo my charity effort. As I said it’s not supposed to be fun, it’s supposed to be a gruelling, difficult challenge that will raise money and, just as importantly, awareness for the cause.
I don’t really like hassling individuals to donate money for sponsorship as I feel as if people think they are sort of obliged to hand over some money whether they like it or not…
But if I could raise some money through corporate sponsorship, which is tax deductible, and raise awareness for prostate cancer, then at least I can do some good. Just rotting up the money I’m likely to spend doing the challenge is unlikely to make half as much of a donation as I could garner through sponsorship.
…Nic thanks for the idea of getting it into the magazine and the t-shirt idea, very helpful!
It’s got me thinking I could also approach all the bike mags to see if they’ll do a little paragraph about it as well.
Does anyone know the best way to go about approaching companies to inform them of my plans and ask them for some sponsorship donations? Here are a few I currently have in mind…
Arai- I have an Arai helmet and I will prove it’s comfort for extended periods of wear
Kawasaki - I’ll be riding my kwak obviously
Michelin - tyre longevity
BP/Shell/Esso - maybe they’ll cover the petrol costs!
Infinity/Hein Gericke - good press for them
Etc etc…
I think the best thing is to do both the corporate sponsorship and family band friends method. Corporate will cover some of your costs, friends and family will raise more than you think. Support and coverage through some of the paper and online mags will help also. Especially in helping get corporate sponsorship. The trick is probably to choose something that is meaningful, and challenging. Picking the right cause probably helps also.
