Introducing our 2024 Charity Visitors
Why we have charity visitors
The William Wates Memorial Trust supports many charities which engage with young people through sport and so in 2014, with the financial support of an alumnus, we started an initiative to invite 2 young people each year (from the charities supported by WWMT) to join us on tour for a stage.
They sometimes choose to cycle (sometimes a few kilometres, sometimes more) and sometimes choose to spend their time with our staff team. Accompanied by one of their key workers they’ll both talk after dinner about their experiences, their charity and just how the WWMT grant has helped them.
We’re really excited about our visitors this year. We know our riders will give them a warm welcome on tour and all the encouragement they need. We also know that every rider will be humbled by their stories and their tenacity. Read on to find out more …
Meet our 2 youngsters:
Tristan
The first charity visitor (coming to join us for stage 6 in Burgundy country) is Tristan from the Football Beyond Borders charity who use the power of football to change the lives of young people.
As Tristan explained at the rider event in March, he grew up on a particularly tough council housing estate in Manchester where many of his peers were tempted by crime and gang culture.
Football Beyond Borders have been instrumental in helping him to keep focussed on better life choices and he recently passed his A levels. Tristan has done some cycling before as part of a charity effort, riding up Alp d’huez! He hasn’t ridden much since, but we’ve lent him a road bike to train on and he plans to give stage 6 his very best shot!
We know our lovely riders will be there to support his efforts. We can’t wait to see how he gets on while on Tour with us.
Beatrice
The second charity visitor is Beatrice from the STAR scheme; a rugby charity that originated in Bristol and has expanded to other major cities. Beatrice, like Tristan (coincidentally) is based up in Manchester and she’ll be joining us to ride Stage 16 in Provence.
Beatrice has become something of a poster girl for the charity, impressively earning her place on the Lancashire county rugby squad. She still faces personal challenges daily, but rugby gives her a chance to excel. Never having ridden a bike before (ever!) when she agreed to come on Le Loop, Beatrice has been given a bike by a local charity to practice on. True to form, she’s giving it her very best shot. However far she manages to ride with us on tour, we’ll be there cheering her on and we’re really looking forward to hearing her story first hand.
The benefits of our Charity Visitors are twofold
- A young person gets the opportunity of a lifetime, to challenge themselves and talk to the riders who are supporting them.
- Our riders get to meet one of the young people their efforts are supporting and ask them, face to face, about their life and the work of their charity. They also have a unique opportunity to support them in their ride during the day, sharing the camaraderie of the peloton.
“My Le Loop trip was a huge success and I felt a boost of confidence from the trip. Everyone I met was warm, friendly and supportive. I’ve definitely made everlasting memories and experiences from this trip. I was proud of myself for giving road cycling a go, especially without clip on shoes and for me to ride 118km in that heat, and the hilly course. The views were stunning. Now onto my Gold DofE expedition in Brecon next week!”
“… the talk and meeting Daley from Star Scheme…was moving, memorable and made a huge impact on me. To hear from a project that the WWMT supports put everything in perspective. It made the charity and fundraising feel personal. Well done for incorporating such an important aspect to the tour and I hope they get to know what an impact they made”.