Cycle4Schooling: London to Oxford Cycle for Syria

Hi everyone!

Al Madad Foundation is a small charity based in central London that works to promote education and literacy in disadvantaged and refugee children.

We're currently working with refugees in Lebanon who have fled the violence in Syria and are now living in tented settlements. Here, our main focus is on water, sanitation and hygiene.

We're also working with internally displaced families in Syria who have sought shelter in abandoned buildings such as warehouses, factories and disused schools. Our focus here is on education, as the country runs a great risk of losing a generation to the war. We want to reduce this risk as much as possible by equipping children with the tools they need to become successful, educated individuals undefined by the conflict that surrounds them.

As such, Al Madad Foundation has set up education initiatives within one school in Aleppo, reaching over 155 children of schooling age. This has proved a great success so far, and we’ve reached over 70 families living in just one school. There has been great demand from other schools to get involved, and we are now trying to expand our efforts to other schools in the same district! But we can’t do this without raising more funds!

We have therefore set up Cycle4Schooling, a sponsored ride from London to Oxford that will take place on the 17th of May 2014. Funds raised from this will allow us to continue running our projects within our current school, as well as allowing us to set up similar initiatives in other disused schools.

We would love you to join, and to get anyone else who may be interested to cycle with us for Syria! We’ve got everything covered, from lunch and snacks, to a dinner on us in Oxford, and coach return back to London!

This is a new venture for us, and we have a lot to learn and a lot to gain from this. We’re a small charity trying to make a very big difference to the lives of children living in very difficult circumstances.

We know that many cyclists don’t like asking for sponsorship for something they enjoy doing as a hobby, but if there is one charity ride you decide to do next year, let it be ours! If you would be interested in donating instead, please follow the link to our page! http://www.almadadfoundation.org/donate.html

Of course, any tips you can offer on rides and training would also be great, so we can communicate these to our less experienced cyclists!

For further information, please check out our website at http://www.almadadfoundation.org/cycle4schooling.html

You can also email me directly at contact@almadadfoundation.org

Hope to see some of you at the starting line!!

Al Madad Foundation