Launch of "Precious Cargo" project with student midwives

As part of a joint effort to participate in the UN’s Millennium Development Goal of a reduction in overall worldwide maternal death rates, Motorcycle Outreach is partnering with StudentMidwives.Net together with midwives and other healthcare workers around the country to create a ground-breaking project called "Precious Cargo".

Precious Cargo project

 The plan is to send a scroll (one of the oldest forms of communication) on a global journey, visiting those involved with midwifery (one of the oldest professions) starting with a tour of UK hospitals and maternity units collecting signatures (and donations) as it travels.

Sheena Byrom OBE, one of UK's leading midwives, is supporting the campaign.

Example of a signed scroll (courtesy of S Ravensdale, Street Kids of India campaign)



Regional members of the National Association of Blood Bikes will be supporting the campaign by providing their trusted courier service for the scroll (the precious cargo) between the hospitals. The student midwives/midwives will facilitate the signing of the scroll during it's 24 hour visit at each location.

The scroll’s journey will start from Hampton Court Palace, London, on Saturday 28th September 2013. From there, it will do a tour of up to 50 hospitals until the end of November. A provisonal route will be published towards the end of August. The UK tour will be a "pilot" for the worldwide journey, that will begin after the UK leg has been completed, and will continue throughout 2014.

The website for the project can be found at www.precious-cargo.org .  People who sign the scroll will be invited to make a donation via Virgin Money Giving or the Precious Cargo website. For more information, contact Ron Common at  ron@motorcycleoutreach.org

Motorcycle Outreach at Horizons Unlimited 2013, Donington Park

[caption id="attachment_791" align="alignleft" width="300"] Simon's bike[/caption]

Motorcycle Outreach was, once again, represented at the Horizons Unlimited event , held for the first time at Donington Park (29th May –1st June 2013). The change of venue from Ripley to the larger Donington site proved to be a success (with a few lessons learned along the way) and it was interesting to see the event broadened to include all forms of adventure travel ie 4 x 4 s and bicycles in addition to motorcycles.

There were more trade shows for people to see as well as the usual array of fascinating presentations and events. Even the weather came good in the end.

With a new marquee, promotion banners and flyers produced just in time for the event, plus the usual attraction of Simon Milward’s overlander bike, the team (Ron, Craig, Barbara plus Ellen and Keith) managed to do some fantastic networking and make some valuable new contacts. As usual , Simon’s bike attracted lots of attention with some of its design features causing a few scratched heads. (No-one has yet worked out the purpose of the steering damper welded to the rear rack!)

[caption id="attachment_788" align="alignright" width="300"] the new stand[/caption]

The purpose of the event for us this year was to raise awareness and we’d like to thank Sam Manicom and Ian Harper , the HU event organisers, for their continued support for our charity by providing us with a free pitch , Andy at Magnum Offset Litho Ltd, for his graphic design support on our new promotion materials, Sam Manicom, Tiffany Coates and Paddy Tyson for their supportive testimonials, and Keith and Ellen for their help on the stand.

Thank you also to all those who visited our stand and please do keep in touch. We’d love to hear from you.

 

Ron Common appointed to Trustee Board

[caption id="attachment_783" align="alignright" width="300"] Ron Common[/caption]

“Motorcycle Outreach is pleased to announce that Ron Common, previously a Supply Chain Director at train builder, Bombardier Transportation Ltd , has been appointed to the charity’s Trustee Board. Ron is a life-long motorcycle enthusiast and brings with him over 25 years of supply chain and project management experience in the field of vehicle maintenance.

Ron said “ I am very excited to be joining Motorcycle Outreach as a trustee and continuing my active involvement with this mission that I feel so passionately about. Motorcycle Outreach has a proven, simple and cost effective solution to the problem of getting healthcare reliably delivered to people living in remote areas of developing countries. On the international stage, the United Nations is calling for more to be done to improve maternal care and reduce child mortality (MDG 4 & 5) in the developing nations. I am sure that I can use my business skills to help Motorcycle Outreach play its part in responding to that call”.

PT Astra donates Motorcycles to Health for All

PT. Astra International Ltd, a leading trading company in Indonesia, has provided three motorcycles to Health for All (YKS) for use by healthcare workers in the Flores Timor area. Safety equipment such as jackets and helmets have also been included.

This donation builds on the SATU Indonesia award presented to Health for All (YKS) in 2010 in recognition of the work being done in providing healthcare delivery in the rural area of Flores Timor.

[caption id="attachment_756" align="alignnone" width="614"] Eman (HfA Assistant Coordinator) and Mans (HfA Field Coordinator) with the new motorcycles and equipment[/caption]

“We are very grateful for this significant support. This latest assistance recognises the appreciation that the management of Astra International has for the innovative approach being taken by Health for All and the continual innovation required of young people in general for the development of the nation.” explained Willy Balawala on behalf of Health for All during the acceptance ceremony.

Willy Balawala went on to express his hope for further cooperation and shared progress towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals for public health in Indonesia and the East Flores region in particular.

Mansetus (HfA Field Coordinator) added that as Health for All has been in operation for over a decade the original fleet of motorcycles is now due for renewal. Health for All is open for cooperation with other organisations to help address this issue.

The motorcycles will be deployed as part of the Health for all (YKS) Zero breakdown motorcycle service which extends the reach and effectiveness of government healthcare workers.

Flores Indonesia 1st March 2013

ENDS

Tiger 800 Motorcycle Forum Makes Significant Donation to Motorcycle Outreach Charity

130 Tiger 800 riders from 20 countries around the world, including Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Brazil, USA, Canada, UK & Europe have raised over £1500 for Motorcycle Outreach in just 12 weeks.

The group, all members of the Tiger 800 Forum, ran a photo competition of owners’ bikes in different parts of the world throughout last summer. The best photos (of over 200 submitted) were selected to produce a 2013 calendar and 200 copies were sold and distributed to members all over the world between November and January.

With over 26,000 hits on the forum the project proved to be highly popular among the international Triumph community. It also demonstrates that with just a little effort, motorcycle groups can create a sense of community across international boundaries , raise money for good causes and generate a positive public image for motorcycling.

[caption id="attachment_746" align="alignnone" width="680"] Pictured: MoR Directors Barbara Alam and Craig Carey Clinch. Ron Common from the Tiger 800 Forum and Sam Manicom the well-known adventure motorcycle traveller.[/caption]

A representative from the group formally presented the cheque to Craig Carey-Clinch, Director of Motorcycle Outreach on the Triumph stand at the MCN & Carole Nash bike show on Friday, 15th February 2013.

Sam Manicom, the well-known adventure motorcyclist and long-time supporter of Motorcycle Outreach, attended the presentation.

Motorcycle Outreach works with Health Ministries and local projects in developing countries to provide properly managed and maintained motorcycles for use by healthcare workers. This enables mobile teams to provide health care to people living in remote villages where road access is poor.

The money raised will be used to buy a new motorcycle for the charity's project in Indonesia where the mobile health care team supports over 50,000 people living in remote villages on the island of Flores.

Craig Carey-Clinch said: “Motorcycle Outreach is delighted with the donation from the Tiger 800 Forum. Among our other activities this year, we are hoping to replace the motorcycles that are used by heath care workers in Flores, Indonesia and the donation will really help towards this. The existing bikes have been in use for over ten years, which shows the value of managing vehicles used in aid projects properly. We are also extremely grateful to Triumph Motorcycles who hosted the presentation on their show stand.”

Dambusters 2013 to raise funds for Motorcycle Outreach

More info at www.dambusters2013.org.uk

2013 Plans

We are currently revising our strategy and plans for 2013, so that we can create more impact through broadening the number of projects in developing countries that MoR supports. Watch this space for further news!