London to Southend Environmental Bike Ride

A cycling success!

On Sunday 12th July, 21 intrepid cyclists took on the 50 mile route from London to Southend to raise a fantastic total of around £5000 for Tzedek and the JCC for London.

The ride began with the Jewish prayer for safe travel and a shofah blast from the two rabbis taking part. The cycle team set off at 8.30am from Victoria Park in Hackney, travelling through the outskirts of London and into the Essex countryside. Along the way, cyclists were encouraged by volunteers from Tzedek and the JCC with cars full of water and Fairtrade Geo-bars to help them on their way.

The first cyclist, Jamie Munk, arrived at the sunny Southend seafront at 12.25pm, taking just under 4 hours to complete the long journey. All remaining 20 cyclists had finished the route by 1.30pm, cheered on, by what had become, their close team mates. One participant said it was 'the loveliest way to see the countryside', and many were enthusiastic about completing the route again next year.

'It’s amazing that between the 22 people who cycled, enough was raised for Tzedek to support over 50 women with sustainable incomes in India so that they can send their children to school and enough was raised for the JCC to support their social action programme develop in the future,' said Dan Berelowitz, Director of Tzedek. 'This is just the first of many rides.'

See video and photos here!