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Transaid cyclists make pit stop in Leicestershire

Posted on 16/06/11

Leicestershire Councty CouncilEnvironment & Transport

16 June 2011

Transaid cyclists make pit stop in Leicestershire

***Media opportunity: 12.40pm, Monday, June 20, County Hall, Leicester Road, Glenfield. School children will accompany cyclists from the Freight Transport Association as they make a pit stop at County Hall as part of a 13-day charity cycle around the UK***

Cyclists taking part in an epic charity cycle ride around the UK will make a pit stop in Leicestershire on Monday (June 20).

East Midlands truckers from the Freight Transport Association be joined for a stretch by school children before stopping off at County Hall when they take on a 55 mile stretch from Derby to Rugby as part of a 13-day challenge.

The event has been organised to raise vital funds and awareness for the international UK development charity Transaids Professional Driver Training Project, which is helping to save lives on Africas roads.

The visit will take place in Bike Week, which aims to encourage more people to start cycling and to cycle more often; and this year will see around 2,500 children in Leicestershire cycle to school and back.

Children from Elizabeth Woodville Primary, who will be taking part in an inter-schools cycling challenge organised by the council in the evening, will meet them in Ratby and cycle with them to County Hall.

Lesley Pendleton, County Council Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport who will meet the 21 cyclists at Glenfield-based County Hall on their way to Rugby, said: We are delighted to be supporting the Freight Transport Association in its epic bid to raise money to help save lives on Africas roads.

Travelling such a distance is no mean feat and we hope the cyclists fleeting pit stop in Leicestershire will give them that extra boost to help them on their way to Rugby.

The challenge started and will finish at the FTA headquarters in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, travelling through England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland and covering a total of around 700 miles in two weeks, averaging 50 miles a day.

The marathon challenge is being led by FTAs President Stewart Oades, who is being accompanied through each FTA region by a local team.

He said: With a transport industry as professional and well-regulated as ours here in the UK, and roads which are generally of a good standard, it is difficult to appreciate how hazardous road transport can be in other parts of the world.

It is great to have Leicestershire as a stop-off as part of our bid to raise funds for Transaids important, life-saving work.

To sponsor Stewart and the FTA Cycle Challenge teams visit www.fta.co.uk/microsites/transaid/how_can_i_help.html

As part of its Choose How You Move campaign, which aims to help people get fit, save money, have fun and help the environment, Leicestershire County Council has joined forces with Leicester City Council to create six colourful cycling maps.

The maps highlight cycling routes in Leicester as well as the Loughborough, Coalville, Market Harborough, Hinckley and Melton areas.

For more on cycling in Leicestershire visit: www.leics.gov.uk/cycling

ENDS

Notes for editors

About the challenge:

For further information about the challenge please contact FTAs media team on 01892 552255/01892 552253 or, out of hours, on 07818 450425.

BBC Radio 2s Sally Traffic Boazman has given her support to the Cycle Challenge. She said: Please join in the fun and support this event to make a real difference to peoples lives in Africa. Road deaths are a real killer, both in the UK and on a global scale and the problem is predicted to escalate if nothing is done to stop it so get on your bike and get fit while raising a bit of sponsorship for Transaid this summer.

The Cycle Challenge route:

Day 1 Tues 7 June - South East England (Tunbridge Wells to Guildford) 46 miles

Day 2 Wed 8 June South West England (Wootten Bassett to Bristol) 55 miles

Day 3 Thurs 9 June Wales (Brecon to Cardiff) 52 miles

Day 4 Fri 10 June West Midlands (Worcester to Leamington Spa) 52 miles

Day 5 Sat 11 June North West (Manchester to Chester) 52 miles

Day 6 Sun 12 June Eire (Dublin to Dundalk) 56 miles

Day 7 Mon 13 June Northern Ireland (Belfast to Larne) 51 miles

Day 8 Tues 14 June Scotland (Stirling to Edinburgh) 50 miles

Day 9 Sat 18 June North East (Tyneside to Middlesbrough) 45 miles

Day 10 Sun 19 June Yorkshire & Humberside (York to Doncaster) 50 miles

Day 11 Mon 20 June East Midlands (Derby to Rugby) 55 miles

Day 12 Tues 21 June East of England (Cambridge to Hoddesdon) 57 miles

Day 13 Wed 22 June South East England (London to Tunbridge Wells) 52 miles

The Freight Transport Association represents the transport interests of companies moving goods by road, rail, sea and air. FTA members operate over 220,000 goods vehicles almost half the UK fleet. In addition they consign over 90 per cent of the freight moved by rail and over 70 per cent of sea and air freight. FTAs website can be found at www.fta.co.uk

About Transaid:

In much of sub-Saharan Africa driving is seen as a job of last resort and something to do when you have no other skills. There is a huge shortage of qualified drivers and very few training facilities. Infrastructure is poor, vehicles are often poorly managed and badly maintained, and road traffic enforcement and legislation is virtually non existent, resulting in heavily overloaded and poorly driven vehicles. Road crashes occur almost daily, often with devastating consequences.

Transaids Professional Driver Training Project, which is currently active in Zambia and Tanzania, is improving commercial vehicle driver training standards and safety awareness in order to address the shortage of skilled drivers to help make communities safer. Currently, road deaths are the third biggest premature killer in sub-Saharan Africa following HIV/AIDS and malaria and this figure is set to rise to become the leading killer if nothing is done to avert the crisis. Funds raised from the ride will enable the project to be expanded further.

FTA supports Transaid in its vital work by providing technical skills and expertise for its transport projects, as well as helping to raise funds through its annual membership renewal scheme. The target for the cycle ride is 50,000 which will be distributed to Transaid and local charities.

For further information on Transaid, visit www.transaid.org or contact Chantelle Cummings on 020 7387 8136.

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