When a loved one is murdered, you want change more than just allowing that person to become another number in a country where 50 people are added to the murder statistics every single day. This is exactly what the family and colleagues of Mike Thomson did not want, and have allowed his name to become a beacon of hope in South Africa by naming the Change a Life Mike Thomson Trust after him. In 2007, Mike Thomson who was a husband, father of two and manager of Computershare, was brutally murdered in his home. Although the men have been arrested, there has been no justice for the family yet, however the family is still fighting.

One of the ways the Change a Life Mike Thomson Trust is fighting, is by raising money to quite literally change the lives of people in South Africa who are effected by crime. The main fundraiser is the annual Change a Life cycle , which has raised approximately R3 million every year since the inaugural cycle which took place in 2008. In 2008, 81 senior company executives took part in a grueling 450Km cycle ride through 4 southern African countries while cycling along the Zambezi river. The 2009 Cycle event took on a different style with a mystery tour, where the 62 participants knew nothing about where they were racing apart from being based on the luxury Rovos Rail train. The cyclists ended up riding through the quiet, remote roads of the Northern Cape before being whisked away on the train to their next destination which was the Southern Free State.  Last year’s cycle took place through Malawi where the 69 cyclists managed to raise R3.5 million.   After the brilliant success of the first cycle tour, it has become an annual event which raises more and more funds for the Change a Life Mike Thomson Trust and its various projects which are aimed at alleviating crime in South Africa.

This years cycle race will see 70 executive cyclists riding the 530km route through Namibia from the 2nd to the 7th September. The tour will visit quaint towns, explore deserted beaches and towering sand dunes, and will party under star-studded skies. Along the way there will be thrills and spills, exhaustion and exhilaration and long-lasting friendships made. This year the fee was R27 000 for each cyclist and thanks to the race sponsors, the entire fee will go straight to the Trust, with Computershare once again matching the race fee donations rand for rand. We have no doubt that this years cycle looks to be as much, if not more of a resounding success than previous years.

With the DNA Project as one of the beneficiary’s of this incredible event, we throw our full support behind this extremely worthwhile race, which quite literally Changes Lives in South Africa.

GOOD LUCK to all the riders!

Vanessa & The DNA Project Team

This entry was posted on Tue, Aug 30th, 2011 at 10:38 am and is filed under DNA Project. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.