This year AMB is helping to further the interest and awareness of Project White Horses 2008. If you’ve been following my blogs, you’ll remember that last year in September I became involved with a UK charity called Sugar Free, who undertake sponsored charity bike rides around the world for children diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. Last year they came to the French Riviera and did a gruelling ride from Nice to St Tropez by way of Fréjus and each and every hill they could find in between.

Project White Horses 2008 is humanitarian project organised by the SLL (Sete Lorient London) a Franco/British charity working in partnership with La Sauvegard 56 in France and The Prince’s Trust in the UK through Ucan2’s European Voluntary Service (EVS) Youth in Action Programme.

Simply put, the SLL buy white horses in the Camargue (South of France) that have been specially trained to take riders with disabilities. They then donate them to riding for disabled centres in the UK and France. While this is already a magnificent gesture in itself, the chosen horses are actually ridden from Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer to London – an impressive feat of over 1000 miles that takes about six months to accomplish.

In 2005 SLL managed to buy and train four horses; this year they have ten that will undergo this amazing journey of discovery. Setting off on May 5th, a group of selected disadvantaged young people, escorted and accompanied by qualified adults and team leaders at all times during this journey, will ride all the way to Brittany, passing through (to name just a few places) Séte, Périgueux, Angouleme, Nantes, Redon until they reach Vannes by the middle of August.

Five horses will remain behind and be donated to four French charities, the five others will continue their journey to Cherbourg and cross the channel to Poole by 12th September and then ride on to London. Here the team and horses will receive a blessing at St Marks Church, Regents Park/Primrose Hill by the Bishop of Edmonton, the Rt Revd Peter Wheatley on Sunday 28th September. The ride continues afterwards until they reach their final destinations in October.

While I won’t be able to attend the whole of this extraordinary ride, I will be there on May 5th to see the departure, meet the horses and people involved and, as they progress, to keep you abreast of their journey. In the meantime, if you would like to know more about this very worthwhile cause, click on the following link.

Next instalment - meet the horses.