Successful entrepreneurs will be forsaking their creature comforts in October to take part in a gruelling off-road traverse of Africa by motorbike to raise money for charity.
Marek Kriwald, founder of property-tagging firm Keepsafe and speaker bureau Parliament Communications, will join Simon Woodroffe (pictured), founder of the famous YO! Company, and former 400m World Champion Derek Redmond on the trip organised by Enduro Africa.
On October 26, the trio will set off on a nine-day trip, where they will travel 1,700km on 200cc trail bikes to raise money for the Riders for Health charity, which provides African medics with motorcycles they desperately need to reach patients quickly.
All three participants expect the trip to be a demanding test of endurance.
Kriwald commented: “You need to be in pretty good physical shape to get through the course. It’s a long way, it’s a lot of bumps, we go from extreme heat to cold to rain to sandstorms and I don’t know how much sleep we’ll get, so it will definitely be a physical challenge.
“We also have to know how to ride a bike off-road and none of us have done that before.”
Kriwald hopes that the involvement of high-profile figures on the team will help raise awareness of the rides and their cause.
He added: “I think anyone can do it. I suppose the more entrepreneurial/celebrity involvement there might be in things like this the more attention it creates and it would attract more people to actually go on the rides as well and raise money themselves.
“We set ourselves a higher fundraising target than Enduro Africa specified (£25,000), simply because we think we may have the connections and the publicity to go out there and get more.
“But the point is, it doesn’t matter what your position in life is, if you can spare a couple of weeks and effectively go on an adventure, but do something really good in the process, then everyone should consider it.”
So far, the Parliament team has been sponsored by YO! Company, Parliament Communications, Hein Gericke and Moov2.com. For more information and to pledge support, visit: http://www.parliamentenduro.com/index.asp
© Crimson Business Ltd. 2007
