Simon Completes Ride

On 21st May Simon John, a retired Thetford solicitor set off from Lands End to ride the length of Britain to raise both awareness of, and funds to combat Modern Slavery. Although he rode up the West of England, he spoke mostly virtually, to schools, faith groups and clubs around the UK and even to a club in Colorado. By the end of June he had spoken to over 120 groups and classes of students - and approaching 4000 people in all. Although he started in a 65mph gale at Lands End, the wind was at his back. That evening he wrote off his bike. It took him most of the next day, a Saturday to find a suitable replacement in Cornwall and when he did start, a navigational error made for a 12 mile detour back to his day’s starting point - and a late supper. On Sunday he nearly drowned in a Devon deluge. He knew things were looking up on the Monday because every time it began to rain heavily, he happened to be passing a pub. The only live talk he gave was at a school in Whitchurch, Shropshire. He usually managed to meet up with his campervan support vehicle and driver as a location to give daytime talks in places with good Internet coverage. His visit to the Liverpool International Slavery Museum was a sobering highlight. It focuses on transatlantic slavery but is cleverly related to present, modern day slavery. The only serious challenges after the first three days were in the later ascents. Shap summit in the Pennines and the Drumochter Summit (1500 feet) in the Cairngorms were the longest but those on the last day in far North Eastern Scotland, south of Wick were surprisingly and repetitively steep.To date he has raised a little under £9,500 for Anti-slavery International towards a project helping people and their descendants out of indentured slavery. He arrived at his destination John O’ Groats, on 10th June. Simon said he was particularly struck by the kindness of complete strangers: when he was completely lost or when they waived campsite fees or just randomly donated to the fund. “Although it was something of a logistical challenge, the mere cycling, for anybody of average fitness was not, even at the age of 75, an insurmountable hurdle. The scenery was glorious! I only hope those who heard from me, of the plight of our downtrodden brothers and sisters not only heard the words but act upon it. When we are all aware of what we can do to end Modern Slavery, less people will be enslaved to satisfy our consumer demands; more slaves will be freed as we are able to identify them” said Simon. Simon’s JustGiving page is at;

www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ freedomride2021

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