Yeovil's Piers Simon Appeal JOGLE

A bunch of crazy people who only started riding bicycles six months ago have just completed nearly 1,000 miles from John O'Groats to Lands End (code named JOGLE)  for Yeovil based charity The Piers Simon Appeal.

for those of you have never heard of it,the charity was started by the family of Piers Simon who was sadly lost in the Tsunami on the Island of Koh Phi Phi, Thailand on 26th December 2004. Having experienced first hand the tragic results of such a natural  disaster,and searching for the body for five days ,his brother Luke and their family and friends decided to set up the charity in his name to help the victims of disaster rebuild their lives.

Cycling for 13 days on the trot from August 2nd Piers’ family members Luke, Henry and Celia Simon (part time riders and support crew),James Lovell,Randall Haime,Jenni Yang,Karma Singh ,William Glover, Rob Jackson ,Richard Jones and Laura Sperring  arrived in triumph at Land's End on August 14th. Their plan was to raise £6,000 from the challenge, which will go towards assembling another consignment of 'School in a Bag’ kits for disadvantaged children in Sierra Leone which only cost £10 each but make a huge difference in thelives of children who have been devastated by war.

all the guys want  to say a big thank you to local businesses for their support and sponsorship including cut-price cycle tops from Rock & Road cycle shop in Yeovil; signage for the support vans from John Burton Signs; money towards fuel from David Webb Engineering, South West Black Belt Academy and John Burton Signs; and vouchers from Tesco to help the cyclists keep going throughout their trek. The Park School in Yeovil also donated use of its school van for the two week period, which saved the charity the expense of hiring one.

Luke Simon, Charity Liaison Officer at the Piers Simon Appeal, said: “The support and generosity we have received from local businesses is an enormous boost. We were very excited about tackling this iconic cycle route and indebted to those kind volunteers who freely gave up their summer holidays to be involved”.

The way the charity work is that after a disaster has struck, a link is established with the community affected, usually by email, and if necessary a site visit is organised to conduct an analysis of disaster area which strengthens their relationship with the community and the designated contact in person. This is often essential as it provides the Piers Simon Appeal with a sense of security about the donation of money and the legitimacy of the work.

Once repair work has begun, their contact in the field is responsible for sending electronic reports of the nature of work and progress.

They are up for the Somerset Chamber of Commerce Business Awards as charity of the year .