TIRED, but elated by their achievements, a group of travel-weary cyclists arrived back in the UK late last night after raising thousands of pounds for disadvantaged children through their participation in the third biannual Cycle India event.
Led by Heal founder Dr Satya Prasad, 23 cyclists from England, Scotland, Wales, India and the USA pedalled 280kms in five days through the plains, hills and backwaters of Kerala, south of Mumbai, mostly in temperatures in the low 30s Centigrade.
During their 10-day trip the group also visited schools, a hospital and Heal projects, including the Children’s Village in Guntur and the ambitious new Paradise Village site in Andhra Pradesh.
Along the way they received welcome donations from local businesses, with most of the funds raised going towards new buildings at the Paradise project, which will become home to 1,000 orphaned, abandoned and needy children.
Heal’s head of fundraising in the UK, Matthew Glover, gave the event a big thumbs-up and said that organisers Kalypso Adventures had already been retained as partners for Cycle India 2014.
“Our first Cycle India in 2008 was a great success and we built upon that two years later, but 2012 was the best Cycle India yet and that was thanks in large part to Kalypso who did a great job,” he said.
It was also revealed by Dr Prasad during the trip that plans are afoot for a new biannual Cycle India event for Indian participants to run on alternative years, while plans are already in the pipeline for the UK to host its own Lands End to John O’Groats ride later this year.
The cyclists were warmly welcomed throughout the duration of the challenge from Kochi to Kumarakom and took every opportunity to interact with local children at towns, villages and schools along the way.
But nothing could prepare them for the tumultuous greeting they received at the Heal Children’s Village where hundreds waited in hot sun to celebrate their arrival before entertaining their guests with a spectacular stage show filled with song, dance and colour.
Some members of the group were even able to meet face-to-face with the youngsters they sponsor at the village, while others, such as Cycle India first-timers Emily Young and Stephen Garrett, were moved to sponsor children for the first time.
Upon leaving Guntur, Stephen and fiance Emily were heading straight to Mumbai for their own traditional Indian wedding.
A number of the cyclists have already put their names forward for Cycle India 2014, with a route provisionally planned to run down the western coastline from Mumbai to the popular tourist destination of Goa.
Please sign up to the Heal newsletter to receive more Cycle India reports and stories and the latest fundraising news, as well as regular updates of progress from the Paradise Village project.





















