WE DID IT! 24-Hour Cyclethon for CARA

Help vulnerable children fleeing oppression and fighting in Myanmar to access school and a safe new life. CARA, a UK registered charity (number 1165824), works through One Sky a Thai based charity in rural Thailand supporting communities with non-documented families, providing key services including ensuring children’s access to education and keeping them safe from exploitation.

To raise money for this extraordinary charity, we have completed a 24 hour cyclethon. We cycled our (stationary) exercise bike non-stop for 24 hours, covering 659km of , further than from Bangkok, Thailand to Phnom Penh, Cambodia; or as cities you might be more familiar with: London to Edinburgh! This was achieved in back-to-back shifts between 24 wonderful individuals.

As part of this challenge, CARA trustees Jan and Colin Lillicrap did 80 minutes of continuous cycling to support 80 children attending school (a perfect marking of the fact that Colin also turned 80 this summer and Jan the summer before!).

Our amazing riders in order of appearance were:

George

Louis

Josh DL,

Matthew

Shyaam

Piya

Colin

Jan

Immie

Henry

Mel

Josh E

Dean

Annie

Andy

Florence

Agastya

Thomas

Daniel

Emma

Will,

Kate,

Dan

Marianne

Thank you for your contribution to this cause that means so much to us. Our target is to raise £5,000 by April ’24, starting with this fundraiser, which will fund 30 educational grants enabling 30 children to attend school for a year who would otherwise be unable to.

One Sky Foundation based in Sangkhlaburi, Thailand on the border with Myanmar (Burma) supports a wide range of social welfare, healthcare and education, programmes including supporting families to enrol their children in free Thai schools & supporting them through dedicated field social workers to complete their education. In 2022 CARA UK was able to support 240 children to attend school who would otherwise be unable to. It costs £100 to £200 per year to support a child to attend school but costs and needs have risen since COVID-19 so the charity faces the prospect of having to reduce its operation in 2024 unless more money is raised.

If you would like more information please visit CARA UK's website at www.carauk.org or One Sky’s website www.oneskyfoundation.org.