Cycle for Hope 2025!

Our new vehicle is allowing us to continue our outreach to the nearby Squatters camp, bring food donations to our Soup Kitchen and transport staff for training. 

We are turning our transportation focus to two-wheels in 2025!

Bottom left photo shows bikers at our Sundowners 2024 Fundraiser on their way to check out the newly developed trails at the venue, Lock Overlook Farm, and the bottom right photo shows some of the donations that will be making their way to the Karoo with our travel team this summer.

Cycle for Hope 2025!

Greetings Friends of Hope in South Africa!

It’s time to Gear Up for Good! We’ve got so much happening with regard to bicycles and the Karoo region that we could do a feature film.

While we were thrilled to purchase a new vehicle last year with our Driving for Change 2024 campaign as well as working on some much-needed infrastructure initiatives, we are doubly excited to share how we intend to direct this year’s fundraising efforts.

Will you Cycle for Hope?

We are not asking you to put on your helmet and start pedaling — but you could! We’re asking you to invest in our commitment to bring transportation, confidence and a whole lot more to the Karoo region of South Africa.

The Rotary Club of Carroll Creek, in partnership with the Rotary Club of Empangeni has been working to move 12 containers of used bikes to South Africa. For the past three years, a small team has been working behind the scenes to bring multiple shipping containers of bikes to our community and others in the region. And now we are beyond thrilled to announce that our container has arrived and was transferred to Richmond. The bikes will be shared by both Richmond and Colesberg. Hope in South Africa has provided critical funding and support for this effort.

Our goal this year is to establish a bicycle activity area in both Colesberg and at the Richmond Community Center (RCC). The shipping container used to transport the bikes, together with a second container, will be located at the RCC for storage, and to establish a bike shop for repairs. In Colesberg, the Rotary Club has identified a space which will be improved to house the bike operations. We’ll be training some community members in both towns as bicycle mechanics, as well as teaching children and adults the safety, upkeep and responsibility of two-wheeled vehicle ownership. Safety is our highest priority, so we'll supply the children of Richmond and Colesberg with helmets, safety gear and training to be responsible bikers. In addition, we’ll be building and improving the local off-road trails for exercise and enjoyment by local residents and potential travelers passing through the towns of Richmond and Colesberg.

But that’s not all! This summer we’ll have a team of five Rotary travelers who will go to Richmond and Colesberg to reinforce the development of cycling in the Karoo. Our travelers will work with Rotarians and other community members in Richmond and Colesberg to help build new bike trails and reinforce existing ones. Safety and proper etiquette will also be reinforced. For the grand finale, our bike partners in Kimberley and Colesberg will join with cyclists from Richmond as well as our travelers for a single track bike race in Colesberg in August 2025. The competition will be fierce and the camaraderie will be even stronger. 

We look forward to sharing all this and more as the year unfolds.

A Serious Issue Needs Attention

Beyond the excitement about our bike project, we need to address a very serious sewer issue in the town of Richmond. We are funding the replacement of a sewer pump in order to stave off the release of raw sewage into the creek and streets that run through town. We are grateful to Rotary Club of Carroll Creek for donating to this project, but still need to match their contribution, and together with a contribution from the local municipality make this important project a reality. Not quite as glamorous as our bikes arriving and the activities associated with it, but a critical need in this small community.

Ongoing Maintenance

And as always, when you’ve been working with a group in rural Africa for as long as we have, nearly 20 years, there is practical on-going maintenance. We’ll be improving a building where we used to hold our music and dance programs, for use by the community for larger group events, such as a space for a set of elder women to work on sewing projects. We will also be replacing air conditioners and building a permanent roof system to protect the children as they line up for handwashing and the serving of food from our soup kitchen. The winds here are not kind to shade cloths and we are moving on to a stronger form of cover.

And you are probably asking how we are accomplishing all of this? We’ve got a super dedicated team that needs your financial support to make it all happen!

Our goal is to raise $30,000.

Please support Cycle for Hope 2025 (and SO MUCH MORE)! Please know that your gift will go a very long way toward meeting our infrastructure goals and our long-term commitment toward improving the quality of life in Richmond. By partnering with local Rotary Clubs and other local non-profits in South Africa, we leverage your investment and assure that funds are directed to those in need.

Please share our campaign with anyone you think would be interested in supporting our mission — think bike enthusiasts or people passionate about safe water.

Become a part of Hope in South Africa’s Cycle for Hope in 2025!

Mary Nagle
President, Hope in South Africa