London to Paris - cycle team

Hi all,

I am looking to get a team together for the London to Paris cycle for charity next July 2015. Me and my wife raise money for Childhood first, but you can raise for any charity of your choice. You need to pay a deposit and then raise £1,500 each, which sound a lot, but it is quite easy to do as I have managed it before.

Please let me know if you are interested in joining the team and we will take it from there.

The event is a long weekend 3rd to 6th July 2015.

Please see the link below for details.

Hi all,

 

I am looking to get a team together for the London to Paris cycle for charity next July 2015. Me and my wife raise money for Childhood first, but you can raise for any charity of your choice. You need to pay a deposit and then raise £1,500 each, which sound a lot, but it is quite easy to do as I have managed it before.

 

Please let me know if you are interested in joining the team and we will take it from there.

 

The event is a long weekend 3rd to 6th July 2015.

 

Please see the link below for details.

 

https://www.charitychallenge.com/challenge/50/London-to-Paris-Bike-Ride

Thats just a website where you select the holiday you prefer and then get someone else to pay for it. Sorry. I quite fancy a week dogsledding in Sweden - anyone want to sponsor me? https://www.charitychallenge.com/expedition/1879/Dog-Sledding-Challenge

Thats just a website where you select the holiday you prefer and then get someone else to pay for it. Sorry. I quite fancy a week dogsledding in Sweden - anyone want to sponsor me? https://www.charitychallenge.com/expedition/1879/Dog-Sledding-Challenge

Not at all. It is raising money for charity you complete ****!

Thats just a website where you select the holiday you prefer and then get someone else to pay for it. Sorry. I quite fancy a week dogsledding in Sweden - anyone want to sponsor me? https://www.charitychallenge.com/expedition/1879/Dog-Sledding-Challenge

Not at all. It is raising money for charity you complete ****!

Doing Barmouth to Yarmouth, 550+km in 2 days in July with a group of 8 for Cancer Research (self organised).

This time though I'll not be tapping up the Lounge Lizards for sponsorship but you can if you want to.

Not at all. It is raising money for charity you complete ****!

Really? you'll be taking the self funding option will you? or will almost two thirds (£945 of the minimum £1,550 sponsorship) given for charity be syphoned off to pay for your ferry, hotel, eurostar seat and organiser's profit?

Instead why don't you cycle the same distance around England, staying at your friends / grans / colleagues overnight and donate the whole amount sponsored to the charity? Not so appealing?

I did the London to Paris about 6 years ago for Action Medical Research. An excellent event, very well organised and a decent challenge too. We arrived in Paris on the Saturday before the Tour finished on the Sunday (so got to see that too) and the roundabout around the Arc de Triomphe and Champs Elysees were closed for us to cycle around and down. I almost went a gutser trying to take a selfie or two whilst riding! The route we went was via Dover, Abbeville, Beauvais and into Paris, which is a little different to your route, but I would have to agree with Tim's point (although I wouldn't make it in such a harsh way) that there is an element of payment for the "trip" which should be taken out of your own pocket before sponsorship can begin. We coughed up about 650 quid from our own pockets to start the sponsorship off. That paid for the accommodation, ferries, etc with the rest raised being "proper" sponsorship from others for the charity. Good luck though, you should enjoy it.

I did the London to Paris about 6 years ago for Action Medical Research......We coughed up about 650 quid from our own pockets to start the sponsorship off. That paid for the accommodation, ferries, etc with the rest raised being "proper" sponsorship from others for the charity.

Good for you, thats the proper way to do it. The problem is that the genuine desire to give to good causes and support family & friends efforts is often being perverted by commercial companies turning a profit on freebie trips marketed to the less scrupulous or careful. Donors need to be very vigilant about how much of the money donated will actually go to the charity concerned and how much will be used to cover the costs of the trip. One of Charity Challenges trips is to go up Mount Etna by cable car and walk around the tourist path at the base. I did that on holiday a couple of years ago and had no idea anyone could possibly market that as a 'challenge' let alone con old ladies into paying for it from their pension.

The charity I work for and many others are concerned that donors are being exploited because they are, understandably, must less vigilant about where their money is going when its marketed as 'for charity' than when its a purchase in a shop. Charities need to be beyond reproach and taking money from such enterprises isnt ethical or sensible in the long run. The danger is that people become disillusioned and sceptical of charitable organisations and see them as no more more trustworthy or reputable than the many commercial scams out there. Deal with charities directly, not through commercial companies who are effectively selling holidays through the halo effect of doing good.

Good for you, thats the proper way to do it. The problem is that the genuine desire to give to good causes and support family & friends efforts is often being perverted by commercial companies turning a profit on freebie trips marketed to the less scrupulous or careful. Donors need to be very vigilant about how much of the money donated will actually go to the charity concerned and how much will be used to cover the costs of the trip. One of Charity Challenges trips is to go up Mount Etna by cable car and walk around the tourist path at the base. I did that on holiday a couple of years ago and had no idea anyone could possibly market that as a 'challenge' let alone con old ladies into paying for it from their pension.

 

The charity I work for and many others are concerned that donors are being exploited because they are, understandably, must less vigilant about where their money is going when its marketed as 'for charity' than when its a purchase in a shop. Charities need to be beyond reproach and taking money from such enterprises isnt ethical or sensible in the long run. The danger is that people become disillusioned and sceptical of charitable organisations and see them as no more more trustworthy or reputable than the many commercial scams out there. Deal with charities directly, not through commercial companies who are effectively selling holidays through the halo effect of doing good.

Judging by DW post history, I think we know his heart in the right place and I think it would have been better to have put your last post before the first as the first one was quite inflammatory.

I'd be curious to know whether DW reevaluates this and future charity rides now, or perhaps the one he is doing is more legit than the ones you're talking about buctootim.

To be honest, I'd always assumed that these things meant the participant was out of pocket in some way, as it would seem wrong to ask people to donate and not pay out yourself. I've given quite often on Just Giving and assumed participants get a benefit from the feeling of doing good or the achievement or camaraderie.

I suppose the argument could be that zero money would be raised if there wasn't a professional group organising it, so something is better than nothing.

I'd be interested to know what you think about all this now, Dr Who!

Until I had read this thread I was totally unaware that such 'charity sites' existed. Frankly, I find the whole concept quite appalling, how are such things legal. Am I missing something, but if I was to donate, where on the site would it advise me that most of my money would not go to charity.

Judging by DW post history, I think we know his heart in the right place and I think it would have been better to have put your last post before the first as the first one was quite inflammatory.

 

I'd be curious to know whether DW reevaluates this and future charity rides now, or perhaps the one he is doing is more legit than the ones you're talking about buctootim.

 

To be honest, I'd always assumed that these things meant the participant was out of pocket in some way, as it would seem wrong to ask people to donate and not pay out yourself. I've given quite often on Just Giving and assumed participants get a benefit from the feeling of doing good or the achievement or camaraderie.

 

I suppose the argument could be that zero money would be raised if there wasn't a professional group organising it, so something is better than nothing.

 

I'd be interested to know what you think about all this now, Dr Who!

There are plenty of rides that arranged directly by charities or where the charity have bond places similar to the London marathon.

As I mentioned earlier a group of us are doing 550km in 2 days from Barmouth in Wales to Great Yarmourh for Cancer Research UK. We are organising it ourselves and will attempt to drum up corporate support where we can and see if we can get some cheap hotel rooms for our overnight stop. All expenses we will cover ourselves otherwise. Every penny that goes to the just giving page will end up with the charity it's meant for.

Until I had read this thread I was totally unaware that such 'charity sites' existed. Frankly, I find the whole concept quite appalling, how are such things legal. Am I missing something, but if I was to donate, where on the site would it advise me that most of my money would not go to charity.

Them Charity Sweet bros seem a bit of a racket also. I bet barely 10p in the pound makes it back to the charity. Also the charity muggers that attack you in the street, them bros ain't volunteers.

Just to up date you, I will not be doing the challenge through this website and am appalled by it.

I will be self funding and event so all the money raised will go to the charity and not the trip itself.