About Charities
In 2003, Geoff Thomas, the ex-England and Crystal Palace footballer was diagnosed with leukaemia. A bone marrow transplant from his sister saved his life. Other blood cancer sufferers aren’t so lucky. They need new state-of-the-art drugs to save their lives and that’s where the Geoff Thomas Foundation is trying to help.
In 2005 he got on his bike and cycled the 3,500km of the Tour de France route. His experience is recounted in his book “Riding Through The Storm”. He’s completed the London Marathon and the London-Paris Cycle Race. He was recognised for his charity work with the BBC Sports Personality Helen Rollason Award.
Geoff’s fund-raising has now grown into the Geoff Thomas Foundation – a campaigning organisation that aims to raise £20 million to fund drug trials at six world-class centres, in Birmingham, Nottingham, Manchester, Bart’s London, Oxford and Cambridge. The goal is to ensure that by 2015 all blood cancer patients have access to potentially curative and life-enhancing treatments.
In 2008 Cyclestore joined partners with the GTF as a method to raise the profile of the foundation within cycling and to help raise money. Cyclestore has at present, assisted partners of the GTF with bikes and accessories for events such as The London- Paris Ride and Venice to Milan via Switzerland. GTF official kit is also in the making as suppliers within the cycle industry were pressed to seal the best kit for the best price to raise more money for the cause. Regular donations are given onsite (www.cyclestore.co.uk) from generous customers.
The next step was to hold a charity ride with all profits donated to charity for the GTF. So come along and get fit on your bike, who knows, hopefully Geoff may bring a few friends.
Alzheimer's Society is the UK's leading care and research charity for people with dementia and those who care for them.
There are 750,000 people with dementia in the UK with numbers set to rise to one million by 2025.
Alzheimer's Society is a membership organisation, which works to improve the quality of life of people affected by dementia in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Many of the 25,000 members have personal experience of dementia, as carers, health professionals or people with dementia themselves, and their experiences help to inform their work.
In 2009 one of the Cyclestore staff decided to ride the entire length of the UK, Lands End to John O’Groats to raise money for the East Cheshire Alzheimer’s Society. Part of the challenge was to visit Alzheimer’s help centres across the country to raise awareness within each community.