Not only did we end 5th out of the 127 charities entered in 2015 in terms of funds raised, but three of our riders were placed in the Top 20 Individual Fundraisers (Red Jersey). The Red Jersey is awarded to the individual who has raised the most funds for a registered charity. The total amount raised for Stepping Stone Hospice in 2015 was a whopping R618 501! .

The funds were earmarked to go towards the establishment of a Palliative Care Training Centre, and we are happy to report that the necessary equipment and furniture were bought for our training facility. Seven of our auxiliary nurses were send on a training course (R18 700 per nurse) while three of our nursing sisters were send on a short course in palliative care. So thank you for helping us reach our goals. .

Funds raised with our 2016 race, will be directed towards our “Help us build, brick by brick” project.

“Our unit currently has 8 wards, two of which can cater for long term patients. However, we want to add on family rooms, in other words, wards which can cater for a family member to sleep over with his/her beloved one, especially in cases where the patients are very young,” Tersia Burger, CEO of Stepping Stone Hospice says.

Funds raised this year will go towards the planned 505sqm addition to our existing In-Patient Unit in New Market Park. Demand for hospice care has increased dramatically over the past few months, hence this decision.

Event Info

The advantages of being part of the Stepping Stone Hospice Charity (SSH):

• To raise funds and to create awareness of the Charity
• Favorable charity starting time (between 05:45 – 09:15). These times will only be allocated after entries closed and may change. Start times vary from year to year. The Charity’s starting time helps very much with novice cyclists who don’t have a seeding and they may perhaps like to start a little earlier than the average novice cyclist.

Seeding is the term used to place or distribute the cyclists into their fitness (index) appropriate start time. Seeding for charities is done on a pro-rata system based on the amount that the charity raised the previous year. (We have ended 5th out of the 127 charities entered in 2015 in terms of funds raised.   A charity can also have cyclists in the Mountain Bike Challenge. There is no special link for the Mountain Bike entries but the charity can still have a presence of riders (please contact Judy to add you to the Charity). All Mountain Bike Challenge cyclists will be seeded according to their personal indexes. If they want to ride together as a team they may drop down to the last start time of the cyclist group.

Fundraising methods:

Cyclist fee of R2 500 (minimum) to be paid to Stepping Stone Hospice before 20 November 2016.

• Cyclists can raise funds by way of donations or being sponsored per kilometer that they ride leading up to the event and on Cycle Challenge Sunday.
• Organise a spinnathon;
• Find a celebrity or well-known personality to ride and endorse the charity.

Please contact Judy Joubert, Team Leader of the Stepping Stone Hospice Charity, if you would like to be part of the team again this year…. and to invite a friend or colleague to participate. You’re also welcome to register online, www.cyclechallenge.co.za, and add Stepping Stone Hospice as a Charity Bond. We need 20 entries (registered and paid for) to register the SSH Charity. Judy will be able to add you to the Charity as well. Judy’s contact details are:

• Telephone : 072 236 9090
• Email : judy.joubert@absa.co.za