News / charity
Bike ride raising money for orphanage to pass through Bristol
An organised bike ride will pass through St Paul’s on Saturday, raising money for an orphanage in Ethiopia.
The Awasho Orphanage School Project looks after children from poor and vulnerable areas where the local communities do not have the supplies to feed and clothe them.
In partnership with the Ethiopian World Federation, cyclists Mega and Earl, from Manchester, will be starting their journey on Thursday at Dunham Massey in Manchester and will be travelling almost 160 miles to Bath.
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Mega and Earl raised close to £2,000 for the cause last year – photo: Mega
From Manchester, they will stop off in Wolverhampton and Gloucester, before making a pit stop in St Paul’s on Saturday and ending in Bath on Sunday.
Last year they raised around £2,000 for the orphanage, and hope to raise more this year.
The money raised will help provide clothing and food for the orphanage – photo: Awasho School Orphanage Project
“The money raised will go for food, books, pens, bottles for water, cutlery and clothing,” Mega told Bristol24/7.
“All of the money we raise goes straight to the Awasho school, and we do another collection for running costs of the bike ride so that we make sure all the money raised goes straight to the orphanage.”
The route they will be taking has significance to the cause, and celebrates the long-standing relationship between Ethiopia and the UK.
The starting point of the route, Dunham Massey, is where Roger Grey, Earl of Stamford, invited Former Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie to stay with him in 1938, after he was exiled.
Emperor Haile Selassie and his family – photo: Fairfield House
The Emperor and Roger became friends, and Roger flew the Ethiopian flag from Dunham Massey every year when the Emperor visited and on his birthday.
The route will finish at Fairfield House in Bath, where Emperor Selassie resided during his five-year long exile. The Emperor donated the building to the City of Bath in 1958 and asked for it to be used as a home for the elderly, which it is still used as today.
Speaking about his work, Mega said: “I do a lot of voluntary and charitable work to try give others the incentive to do good.
“We’re in a situation where everyone’s every man for themselves and people are struggling, but you can still help people despite what you’re going through and create an atmosphere where the next generation can grow up and feel loved.”
To learn more about the sponsored bike ride and the Awasho School Orphanage project, visit the GoFundMe page: www.gofundme.com/f/awasho-orphanage-school-project
Main photo: Awasho School Orphanage Project
Read next:
- Skateboarding more than 250 miles for charity
- Dozens of cyclists take part in Bristol’s World Naked Bike Ride
- Mike Wozniak to headline Heli Laughs, the annual Great Western Air Ambulance Charity fundraiser
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