The William Wates Memorial Trust was established in 1998 in the memory of William, who lost his life on the streets of South America aged 18. The intention was that this would be a grants giving charity that would help young people from deprived areas achieve their potential and not get dragged into a life of crime. The Trust supports many projects which further this aim and in March I, along with a number of fellow riders, had the privilege to visit the Westminster House Youth Trust in Nunhead, South East London where we witnessed first-hand the excellent work and achievements of the team there. Very impressive. Further information about the Trust can be found here.
When I was looking through the list of charities supported, it included one (JusB / ElementY”) which meets at the primary school where my sons went to school – Burnt Ash in Bromley! So that brings it all closer to home for me. Famously, and of no relevance to a blog about cycling, a certain David Jones aka Bowie attended there too many years ago, though we think it was only for one term…
One of the ways that the Trust raises funds for this work is via the Tour de Force, which is now in its tenth year. This gives people with a wide range of cycling abilities the opportunity to ride some or all of the Tour de France that the professionals will be riding one week later. Better not dawdle though, as we can’t have them catching us up! Other than actually ride the bike every day, all we need to do as cyclists is to get ourselves to and from the start and end of our respective tours as everything else will be taken care of – bike transport, hotels, food, transport to each morning’s start and doctors (for both bike and body). The time and effort put into organising this logistical challenge is also very impressive. Further information about this year’s event is here and details about my own fundraising activity for anyone who would like to sponsor me is on my Virgin Money Giving page here.
johnstourdeforce 