RWBA to the Ethiopian Embassy

Ethiopia Wednesday, 16 September 2015
RWBA to the Ethiopian Embassy

A group of 16 ambitious teachers and support staff from the Royal Wootton Bassett Academy (RWBA) set themselves the challenging task of cycling approximately 100 miles from RWBA to the Ethiopian Embassy in London. They hoped to raise £2,500 in sponsorship to help them on their way to reach a target of £28,000 for the purpose of building a Children’s Home for extremely vulnerable children in Dembi Dollo, Ethiopia.

On Saturday the 12th September the first half of the team set off from RWBA on their bikes at 6.30 am followed not long after by the rest of the team at 8 am. On their challenging journey they travelled through Wiltshire, Berkshire and Surrey countryside before hitting the busy streets of London and were cheered on by their brilliant support team and friends and family at three check points along the way.

Everyone in the team completed the testing cycle, all reaching the finish line at the Ethiopian Embassy in Knightsbridge in London between 9 and 12 hours after they began. At the finish line they were greeted by David, Esther and Karen from the Stand by Me England office and celebrated with some well deserved champagne and a quick rest before heading back to Royal Wootton Bassett.

This crazy idea was thought up by the school’s international co-ordinator and geography teacher Emma Stevens, after a visit to the Stand by Me Abdi Academy in Dembi Dollo earlier this year. There she met the enthusiastic and loving children in our care. Every child at the Abdi Academy lives in poverty and while Stand by Me believe the best and most loving place for a child to grow up is with their family, some do not have any family to care for them. For children without a stable family environment we hope to build a children’s home to give them the loving family they deserve. Stand by Me a incredibly thankful that the Royal Wootton Bassett Academy has joined with us and given themselves the target to fund this home.

All the hard work training paid off and the Monday after Emma commented “It was amazing, everyone completed it between 9 and 12 hours. We’re all feeling pretty good today, think we all trained well enough not to ache too much. I was just knackered yesterday!”

Not only did the training pay off but the team exceeded their target and to date have raised over £2,575 – a fantastic start towards the children’s home that will change the world for children in Dembi Dollo. Head over to the RWBA fundraising page to read more about the team.

Stand by... almost there...