Credibility of touring for charity

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maurice

Well-Known Member
Location
Surrey
When I mentioned my upcoming France tour to a mate recently I was asked whether I was doing it for charity. The answer was no, but it had me pondering on the credibility of it.

For me cycle touring is a holiday and something I enjoy doing - I couldn't ask people to give money to charity for that.

What's your take on it?
 

dodgy

Guest
I think you're right.

Dave.
 

yello

Guest
maurice said:
For me cycle touring is a holiday and something I enjoy doing - I couldn't ask people to give money to charity for that.

Depends on how you mean. If you're arranging it yourself, it's your own holiday, your own route, self supported, etc etc then I'd agree.

But, whilst I'm not completely against, I do feel uneasy about the organised tours 'for charity'. I suspect it's a hornets nest of divided opinion though.
 

numbnuts

Legendary Member
A sponsored something or other should be out of the ordinary for that person not something that you can easily do, now take my priest he cycled from UK to Lourdes he’s not a cyclist and he did it in five days
see here
now I think that was amazing feat with the amount of training he did beforehand
 

redfox

New Member
Location
Bourne End, UK
I agree completely, but we are in the minority. For the majority cycling x miles for x days mandates that you are either doing it for charity or are a nutter.

I decided to try and raise some money for a good cause on my first tour as it was a jogle and it seemed to be the done thing but, even though every penny donated went to the nominated cause, I still didn't feel right taking money for something that I would have done anyway.

The local press somehow got wind of of my tour of Scandinavia a few years ago and called me when I got back. The guy writing the article was quite put out when the 'weirdo does something crazy for charity' rug was pulled from under his feet.
 

domtyler

Über Member
I am going to go and lie on a beach in Spain for couple of weeks, would anyone like to sponsor me? :laugh:
 
OP
OP
M

maurice

Well-Known Member
Location
Surrey
That was an impressive feat by the non-cyclist priest, exactly what a sponsored bike trip should be I think.

domtyler said:
I am going to go and lie on a beach in Spain for couple of weeks, would anyone like to sponsor me? :laugh:

Perhaps if you wore an "ETA sucks" t-shirt on the beach at San Sebastien :biggrin:.
 
I am doing a lejog this year and when I tell people the first thing I am always asked is whether I am doing it for charity. I find this bizarre.

I always respond by looking surprised and saying 'of course not, i'm doing it for fun, and because I want to: if I want to do something for charity i'll make a donation or do some volunteering' (I run a charity, and so I do plenty of this already!)
 
U

User482

Guest
I did a lejog last year (unsupported) and as friends were asking if I was doing it for charity, I decided to. I think I enjoyed it even more knowing that a side benefit was a decent amount of money raised for a worthwhile cause.
 

Odyssey

New Member
I've always found this a little strange too. But, if people want to give you money for charity, is that wrong? Is it wrong to cease the opportunity to raise some money for someone who needs it?

There is something to be said of the credibility, and I agree with all the comments. It'd be interesting to hear points from the other side of the fence too though.
 

goo_stewart

New Member
I did my first trip over Cambodia for charity, I felt a bit of a fraud as I really did it becuase I wanted to, it was fun and the charity was just a side issue. I raised a bit of money but always felt that I was doing it for my fun and perhaps people shouldn't be asked to give up their hard earned for my enjoyment.

Since then I have toured over 30 times, going over Cambodia 6 times thus far, and have enjoyed it more because I wasn't asking people to give.
 
I think the idea is that if you are doing something to raise money for charity you do something out of the ordinary, that is a challenge, and incurs some kind of suffering or hardship on your part.

As someone who tours regularly and loves riding long distances, two weeks cycling the length of Britain is nothing but a total pleasure, and is a fairly normal aspiration for someone like me. So it wouldn't be the kind of thing I'd do which would raise money for charity - it might be for the people who ask the question, but certainly not for me...

As someone who is terrified of heights and gets vertigo, doing a parachute jump or climbing a mountain might be a bit more appropriate as a money raising venture...
 
U

User482

Guest
Kirstie said:
I think the idea is that if you are doing something to raise money for charity you do something out of the ordinary, that is a challenge, and incurs some kind of suffering or hardship on your part.

As someone who tours regularly and loves riding long distances, two weeks cycling the length of Britain is nothing but a total pleasure, and is a fairly normal aspiration for someone like me. So it wouldn't be the kind of thing I'd do which would raise money for charity - it might be for the people who ask the question, but certainly not for me...

As someone who is terrified of heights and gets vertigo, doing a parachute jump or climbing a mountain might be a bit more appropriate as a money raising venture...

I didn't plan my Lejog in order to raise money for charity, but as people kept offering donations, it would have been stupid not to accept them.

Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed my Lejog, but it was still a challenge, being 600 miles further than I'd ever toured before.
 
I also would not dream of having my holiday sponsored as it would spoil it for me, equally a Randonnee is fun not a charity event.

The other problem is that is not an "achievement" and devalues others work. One of our Scout parents has just cycled 50 miles to raise funds. For him this was a big event that as a non-cyclist pushed him, and was therefore something special.

To mention that 100k is a normal "day out" devalues that.
 

vernon

Harder than Ronnie Pickering
Location
Meanwood, Leeds
Odyssey said:
I've always found this a little strange too. But, if people want to give you money for charity, is that wrong? Is it wrong to cease the opportunity to raise some money for someone who needs it?

There is something to be said of the credibility, and I agree with all the comments. It'd be interesting to hear points from the other side of the fence too though.

Friends and colleagues were a bit miffed when I declined their offers of sponsorship for my JOGLE and LEJOG rides. Some of them had short memories and didn't remember how reluctant they were to part with their sponsorship money from a sponsored ride that I did a couple of years earlier - getting the money was a major pain and I vowed never to get involved with raising money through sponsorship again.

A secondary reason for turning down sponsorship was the transference of 'ownership' of the tour. I would feel obliged to complete the ride come what may to appease the expectations of the sponsors whereas I prefer to have the right to say 'enough' and go home early if things didn't turn out right.

I met two women JOGLE riders near Monmouth who were having a miserable time. They had set mildly over ambitious mileage targets and would have abandoned the ride had they not been sponsored.
 
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