Trio to raise funds for home with Cycle Tour ride

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Friday, 04 March 2011 08:10

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Momentum Health team to ride Cycle Tour

A team being championed by Momentum Health Trustee, Francois Swanepoel, will ride this year’s Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour in Cape Town to raise funds for a Hillbrow Children’s Home. Momentum staffer, Carel Bosman, as well as Advocate Allen Liversage will make up the energetic trio.

The Cycle Tour takes place on 13 March and the team is hoping to have secured enough pledges to make their 109km circuit worthwhile enough to get started on a kitchen renovation for the home almost immediately.

The 109km circuit is a challenging course that many entrants fail to complete at all. Despite the grueling uphills, the boys should glide through, as Swanepoel and Bosman were Absa Cape Epic partners in 2009, which is an eight day stage race, the biggest mountainbike stage race in the world. Swanepoel and Liversage also finished fourth overall in the 2010 Rhodes Extreme MTB event, the highest race above sea level in SA.

The pressure will be on for the team not to let the children down. Commenting on the task ahead, Momentum Health Trustee, Swanepoel said, “We’ve stepped up to this challenge. Knowing that the home stands firm with one of Momentum Health’s philosophies of healthy eating, we’ve decided to start helping this organisation by renovating their kitchen, which is in dire need of an upgrade. It will certainly spur me on up those hills. Each pedal stroke and each kilometer is another step closer to a shiny new kitchen for them. Their list of needs is long, so the more support and awareness we are able to generate, the better.”

Says Liversage: “Riding without any supplements is less of a challenge than an orphan going to bed on an empty stomach.” The home for orphans and vulnerable children is the Christ Church Christian Care Centre in Berea, Hillbrow. Started as a soup kitchen run by a church in 2000, it was soon found that there was a greater need to provide safe and stable accommodation for vulnerable children in the area and an orphanage was set-up. The home takes care of approximately 50 children (between the ages of 18 months to 19 years-old), providing the required stability to meet the educational, social, physiological and spiritual needs of growing children.

How can you help?

Simply logon to www.rideforapurpose.org.za to make a donation, or SMS the word RIDE to 40131 to donate R20.

Volunteers are also always needed

Volunteers from Momentum Health will help with the actual renovation of the kitchen, however ongoing volunteers are always needed and welcome. Professional plumbers, electricians, and handymen are in demand, as well as those who can offer a hand with ongoing building maintenance, such as painting. A computer technician is also high on the wish list, as the home has sponsored computers still waiting to be set up for use. With education a priority, volunteers for after-school homework assistance are in constant demand. See direct contact details to offer your time or skills.

Education is another top priority, with 44 children attending local primary and secondary schools. School is not optional and those who refuse to attend school have to leave the home. Most of the children have come from dire and disadvantaged backgrounds, and many struggle academically. The Care Centre staff and volunteers work closely with the children in order to assess their performance and help them with homework/assignments and extra tutoring during the afternoons. An education committee helps in recruiting volunteers.

In conclusion, Bosman says: “The children at the home are taught the value of a healthy lifestyle and given a starting chance for a successful future. Our commitment to being fit enough to ride the Cycle Tour can illustrate to them what can be achieved with a positive attitude. Just like us going around again, the more you keep at it, the greater the chance of success.”

Celebrity Francois Pienaar, initiator of the Ride for a Purpose campaign, will also be doing this year’s Cycle Tour, to raise funds for his MAD Foundation.