Riders raise funds for AoS

ON SEPTEMBER 3 a RoundBritain Bike Ride set off from the port of Hull. SeaWheeling is a charity bike ride consisting of 60 towns in 60 days with one aim: to raise funds for Apostleship of the Sea’s work with seafarers.
Lord Prescott, the former deputy Prime Minister, attended the launch at the Hull Seafarers’ Centre to show his support for the event, the team of pedallers and Apostleship of the Sea (AoS).
The team of pedallers, led by AoS trustee David Savage, were given a grand send-off also attended by the Lord Mayor of Hull, local television and press, seafarers and AoS supporters. Lord Prescott and the others were there to lend support and cheer on the cyclists in preparation for the start of their massive journey.
Lord Prescott joked: “I used to be known as ‘two Jags’. I had a government car which was a Jag, I had my own old Jag; but what most people don’t know is that Raleigh gave me a bicycle and it too was a ‘Jaguar’ so then I had three Jags!” David and the other riders are completing this tough challenge to raise funds for AoS. They are asking for help to meet their £100,000 target. You can visit the SeaWheeling Just Giving page at Justgiving.com/ seawheeling to donate online. David will also be blogging about his cycle experience as he goes along. If you would like to keep up to date with the adventure you can by visiting David’s blog at http://seawheeling. blogspot.com.
The idea for this event came from Apostleship of the Sea trustee David Savage, who himself will be completing this entire challenge and cycling 60 towns in 60 days. He invites other supporters to “Take the Strain – Share the Load” and pick up the route where they can and join him in this challenge. He already has a team of enthusiastic cyclists ready to go.
The Apostleship of the Sea (AoS) is a registered charity and an agency of the Catholic bishops’ conferences of England and Wales and Scotland.
It is wholly reliant on voluntary donations to continue its work. Ninety per cent of world trade is carried by ship, and some 100,000 seafarers visit British ports each year. They are commonly away from home for nine to 12 months at a time, suffering loneliness, depression and even exploitation. They also have to work in gruelling and often dangerous conditions. AoS chaplains and ship visitors welcome seafarers to our shores, regardless of their colour, race or creed (if any) and provide them with pastoral and practical assistance. They recognise them as brothers with an intrinsic human dignity which can be overlooked in the modern globalised maritime industry.
For more information visit www.apostleshipofthesea.or g.uk or call Sheila Bailey, director of fundraising and communications, on 0771 286 4747.