CAPE TOWN - Three years ago, three cyclists from the Cycle of Life foundation set out on a mission to ride in the Cape Town Cycle Tour in the hope of raising money and awareness for the desperate rhino situation in KwaZulu-Natal.
Faye Elliott, Simone Godfrey and Rene Lanfear decided to participate in the cycle tour to raise about R1million.
Cycle of Life’s Paula Wilson said they were pleasantly surprised by the support and donations that flowed in.
“By 2016 we grew to a team of 82 riders and successfully raised just under R1 million and this year we have 112 cyclists.”
By joining forces with Africa Foundation, an NGO, Cycle of Life are able to leverage Africa Foundation’s expertise and infrastructure, thus giving them the opportunity to do what they do best, which is “focusing on raising funds for rhino conservation, educating communities and anti-rhino-poaching in KwaZulu-Natal.
“The Cycle of Life will therefore become a project of Africa Foundation.”
For the 2017 Cycle Tour, Cycle of Life has taken a different approach by encouraging pupils from various schools and independent riders to enter the Cape Town Cycle Tour as a team and participate in fundraising.
The teams have signed up on Givengain as activists and the winning team win a trip to a private game lodge at the Phinda Private Game Reserve.