Look To The Stars News: Riders For Health

Elton John Donates Motorcycles To Africa

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 06:51:17 -0000

One of Africa’s poorest countries has received a special gift from one of entertainment’s biggest and most colorful stars.

Elton John took time out from a tour of South Africa on January 17 to visit the nation of Lesotho and donate 120 motorcycles, to be used by doctors and nurses when treating medical emergencies the state’s more remote areas.

“We want to improve the transport system by bringing health care to millions of people living in the most rural areas and thus make a difference in their lives,” said the 60-year-old singer, who handed over the motorcycles to representatives of the Riders For Health program at a ceremony just outside the capital city of Maseru.

“The nurses and doctors will now have transport to follow up patients in the villages, to support community health workers,” added Lesotho Health Ministry spokesperson Tumisang Mokoai. “The motorcycles will be distributed to all health centers in Lesotho.”

Riders For Health has been working on treatment supply problems in Africa for over 15 years, and relies on organizations such as the Elton John AIDS Foundation for support and funding. The program entered Lesotho in 1991, with support from Save the Children, and medical treatment was delivered around the mountainous country’s 1.8 million people on 47 Kawasaki KV175s – which Riders For Health proudly points out ran for 7 years without a breakdown. Service was reduced in 1997, but the new motorcycles will begin a new push for the program in Lesotho in 2008.

Lesotho is a nation completely encircled by South Africa and suffers horrendous poverty and health statistics, with 23% of men aged between 15 and 45 suffering from HIV/AIDS.

It's A Long Way Down For Charity

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 11:09:46 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

What was quite possibly the party of the year was held in London on November 8, in celebration of the adventure of a lifetime.

The Long Way Down charity dinner and auction was held to mark the successful completion of Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman’s 15,000 mile motorcycle ride from the most northern point in Scotland to the most southern point of South Africa, an adventure that is now the subject of a television series being shown on BBC2 on Sunday nights, and an action-packed book. A host of celebrities, including Elle Macpherson, James Nesbitt, and Scottish singer Sharleen Spiteri dusted off their best clothes for the event, which included performances by The Magic Numbers and Beth Orton.

The evening raised over $621,000 for the Long Way Down team’s charity partners, including Riders For Health, an organization that has worked for over 15 years to develop delivery systems for healthcare in Africa, as well as CHAS, a Scottish charity committed to providing children’s hospice services, and UNICEF.

“I’ve been involved with CHAS for many years,” said McGregor during the auction event. “It’s the most extraordinary place. 20% of the money raised tonight will go to CHAS, to help the children. They will be very grateful, as will I.”

The top selling item of the evening was a replica of the BMW R1200 motorcycle the pair rode during their journey. The bike, which was painted half in McGregor’s color scheme and half in Boorman’s, sold for an unbelievable $103,000. This was followed by one of the Nissan Nivara support vehicles that completed the trip, which was snapped up for $87,000. Other items included an African holiday for four people which reached $27,000, and a one-of-a-kind Gary Hutchins Edbanger guitar, sold for $18,000. In fact, the guitar proved to be so popular that the company that produced it agreed to make two more, both of which reached the same price.

Several celebrities also donated their own items to the auction, including Jay Kay from British pop group Jamiroquai, whose mountain bike fetched $12,000, slightly more than his personal hovercraft, which reached $10,000. Actor Simon Pegg sold the Nike shoes he wore in his latest movie, “Run Fat Boy Run”, for $3000.

The Long Way Down team is committed to raising as much money as possible for children affected by HIV, poverty, and conflict in Africa, and visited several sites in Libya, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Rwanda where UNICEF works during the adventure. Both McGregor and Boorman hope that the auction will go a long way in achieving that goal.

“We have started a partnership with UNICEF that will continue for a long long time,” said McGregor, who paid $20,000 for six fashion dresses for his wife during the auction. “The people that we met who work for UNICEF, and the children they help, really touched us to our core. I have often thought that where I would say ‘I don’t know what we can do’, UNICEF says ’Here’s what we can do’.”

More information on the epic journey can be found at www.longwaydown.com.

McGregor Begins Charity Motorcycle Adventure

Thu, 31 May 2007 09:51:00 -0000

Written by Steve Purcell

Actor Ewan McGregor and friend Charley Boorman have begun a second epic motorcycle journey, this time in support of charity.

In 2004 the pair travelled from Scotland to New York via Europe and Asia in a journey dubbed ‘Long Way Round’, and this new journey will take them from London to Cape Town in South Africa – the ‘Long Way Down’.

Of the 20 countries along the route, many are affected by poverty or civil war, and the travelers aim to raise money for UNICEF, the Children’s Hospice Association Scotland and Riders For Health, a charity supporting motorcycle-riding health workers in Africa.

McGregor, says, “Long Way Round changed us all – it bound us together and made our dreams come true – and it’s not often something like that happens. So to be given another opportunity to do something like this is amazing.”

The journey can be tracked at www.bbc.co.uk/longwaydown/, and will later be documented in a television series.

Look To The Stars News: Riders For Health

Elton John Donates Motorcycles To Africa

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It's A Long Way Down For Charity

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McGregor Begins Charity Motorcycle Adventure

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