Laureus’s ‘Chance to Ride’ Bike Ride with Victoria Pendleton

September 5, 2024

In a matter of days, Olympic hero Victoria Pendleton will once again be back in the velodrome. But where she once cycled for gold and glory, this time it’s all in the name of charity.

Victoria is taking part in the Chance to Ride charity cycle in support of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation. And this September, she will be peddling tirelessly for donations to help offer disadvantaged young people around the world the chance to improve both their lives and communities through sport.

But this won’t be the first time Victoria has offered her support to the charity. In fact, the former World and Olympic Champion has been one of the most imaginative supporters Laureus has benefited from throughout 2013.

In March, Victoria attended the Laureus World Sports Awards in Rio, which included visits to meet young people at Laureus-supported projects in the city. And it was after this experience that, on marrying physiotherapist partner Scott this summer, she chose the charity to receive donations from her wedding guests in place of taking gifts herself.

One of Victoria’s passions is the promotion of women in sport. And since being founded in 2000, the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation has supported countless community sport projects that help young women of all ages improve their lives through sport.

Take young mother Jen, a remarkable example of someone who has helped change their own life through taking part in sport thanks to Laureus. The sport in question may not be as traditional as cycling, but it certainly requires just as much passion, commitment and skill. That sport is street-dancing.

Jen tells her story:

“I was messed up in school and ended up just getting kicked out. In the end I didn’t really have anything to fall back on. I was always in trouble with the police. I had eight [entries] in my criminal record and was in with the wrong crowd.”

“I was sat at home bored. And, being a full-time mum, I just didn’t have the chance to get a full-time job.

“I wanted to do something that didn’t take all my time away from [my son]. And then I found street-dance. But having taken part in youth leadership projects, worked toward qualifications and met such different people, I’ve ended up getting so much more out of it than just that. If it wasn’t for [the project] I’d probably just be sat about, drinking, smoking weed. But now I know I want to be a youth worker myself one day.”

In the short-term, Jen looks forward to continuing her work with dance helping the next generation of young women through her own street-dancing group. But this certainly isn’t where she sees her work helping young people ending and hopes one day to go into helping young people as a youth worker as well.

This is exactly what Laureus works to achieve through offering sport to young people.

It isn’t all about making the next sporting superstar, it’s not even just about getting kids off the streets, it’s about teaching the lessons inherent in sport, lessons of team work, fair play and friendship, to help young people become the leaders of tomorrow.

You have the opportunity to cycle with Victoria to raise funds for Laureus so more young people like Jen can change their lives through sport.

So head to www.laureus.com/michaelvaughanbikeride to find out how you can join the Chance to Ride charity cycle that includes stages across the UK.

And be sure to keep up to date with Victoria’s progress on the official Laureus twitter account @LaureusSport or on Facebook.

The PruProtect Chance to Ride with Michael Vaughan will raise funds for the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation and the Cricket Foundation’s Chance to Shine project. To find out more, visit chancetoride.co.uk.

Sportsister,
The Women’s Sports Magazine

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Laureus’s ‘Chance to Ride’ Bike Ride with Victoria Pendleton

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