A CYCLE ride around some of the Cotswolds most scenic locations took place recently in aid of Bikes4Africa.

A total of 246 cyclists took part in the Cotswold Sportive; a charity bike ride that started at Westonbirt House on Sunday, September 20.

The ride was organised by education charity Jole Rider, based in Tetbury, and raised over £5,000.
Cyclists taking part had the opportunity to ride 30, 70 or 100 miles and could enter as individuals or teams and was set in acres of farm and parklands.

There were prizes for the teams that rode the furthest between them and everyone who completed the challenge was entered into a prize draw a holiday in Mallorca.

“It was a lovely day,” said Helen King. “It wasn’t too hot and stayed fine.

“A whole range of ages took part, with the youngest rider aged 11 riding alongside people in their 70s.

“We’re already looking to do some more in the future. The best place to find out about future rides is on our website charity-bike-ride.net.”

The Cotswold Sportive supported Bikes4Africa, a charity set up by Jole Rider that delivers bikes to Africa, enabling children to get to school more quickly, easily and safely. It helps prevent children having to walk for hours to and from school in searing heat every day.

So far, Jole Rider has enabled almost 14,000 children to get to school in West Africa by providing second-hand bicycles, most of which have been refurbished in UK prisons by prison inmates.

“We’ve been supporting Bikes4Africa for 9.5 years, it is our own project,” Helen continued.

“We discovered children walked miles to go to school in Africa and so we wanted to send bikes there to help make their lives easier.”