It takes a team to realise a dream.
© Pierre Tostee / MRP Foundation
Time is ticking for 40 courageous cyclists taking part in the annual Ride for MRP Foundation supported by Absa, a gruelling 660 km ride from Johannesburg to Durban spanned over two days from November 27 – 28 with the aim of raising over R300,000 for the MRP Foundation’s youth empowerment programmes in education and skills development. The youth development organisation impacts thousands of South Africans every day through their holistic education and work readiness programmes.
With entries officially closed, road permissions and logistics organised and training well under the way, the stage has been set for one of South Africa’s toughest two-day road rides. The seventh edition of the endurance ride will also see three schools boys, four women, Mr Price Group Chairman, Nigel Payne and MRP Foundation Director Natasja Ambrosio included in the extraordinary challenge.
The arduous ride will see the cyclists completing back to back stages with each stage longer than any single stage in the Tour de France. Stage One on November 27 will see the peloton in the saddle for close on 14 hours pedalling from Nigel to Ladysmith and then on Stage Two on November 28 the group will be homeward bound from Ladysmith to Durban with a cycle time of 12 hours expected.
This year the Ride for MRP Foundation has been given a significant boost with Absa proudly supporting the event. Absa’s Shared Growth strategy, which focuses on making a positive impact on society, includes a key pillar in support of Education and Skills.
“We are proud to be associated with the annual ride for the MRP Foundation and look forward to helping to raise some much-needed funding to assist in realising the potential of the youth across our continent,” says Absa’s Gary Whiteford, Head Sector Coverage.
“Our ambition to empower young people by providing skills development to support employability and self-employability is extremely close to our hearts, and our association with an event such as this is made that much more rewarding when the vision is shared.”
MRP Foundation also acknowledges further sponsorships from SPAR, Deloitte, Defy, Nissan Raleigh, Finance Spec, KTM Durban, Zebbies and Cyclesphere.
To pledge your support for the Ride for MRP Foundation donors can make a deposit directly to MRP Foundation with the donor name and “RideMRPF” as a reference for the bank transfer. Section 18A certificates will be supplied for all donations. All donation queries to be sent to Cathy Kinnear [email protected]
MRP Foundation bank details:
Bank: ABSA Kingsmead (511326)
Swift Code: ABSAZAJJ
Branch Code: 632005 (Universal)
Account: 4075526746
For all media enquires please contact Pierre Tostee [email protected].
