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22 October 2002
Financiers do it for charity
A group of bankers and financial consultants will this week be swapping their business suits for cycling shorts to tackle a gruelling 640km ride to Durban to raise money for children's charities, including Aids orphans.
The group, comprising 22 employees from Standard Bank, Liberty Life and Stanlib (Standard Bank and Liberty's new wealth management company), hope to raise about R200 000 through the four-day event, which they are calling "Cycle for Kids". Each cyclist will be contributing R5000. Standard Bank and Liberty will match these contributions.
Says Bruce Hemphill, Standard Bank Commercial Banking deputy managing director and one of the event organisers: "We are very excited about this project. What started as a team-building exercise has now grown into something extremely worthwhile. There are children's charities in South Africa that are in dire need of financial assistance and we are thrilled to be able to play a small part in helping these."
The cyclists, aged between 25 and 45, set off from Standard Bank Centre in Simmonds Street, Johannesburg, on Thursday (24 October). They will cover 155km the first day, overnighting in Reitz. They tackle 210km the second day, ending up at the Drakensberg Sun. On the third day the riders head for Midmar Dam, a distance of 150km.
On the final day, the group set off at 4:30 in order to link up with the annual AmaShovaShova cycle race, from Pietermaritzburg to Durban.
"The AmaShovaShova is the kwaZulu-Natal equivalent of the Argus cycle race and we are delighted to be joining various celebrities to lead the race ahead of the professional riders," says Hemphill.
Another of the event organisers, Stuart Loxton, Director: Financial Consultancy at Standard Bank, believes that Cycle for Kids will become an even bigger event next year: "We would like to involve other financial institutions and raise even more money next year. Financial institutions have a responsibility to help contribute to the well-being of the communities in which they operate - and what better way to do this while having fun."
For more information contact:
Bruce Hemphill: (011) 636 3037
Stuart Loxton: (011) 636 2649
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