‘Around the Pearl’ kicks off for the third consecutive year to raise funds for children with cerebral palsy

The ‘Around the Pearl’ initiative will kick off on 7 April 2016 for the third consecutive year. Over 30 riders both local and international will embark on a 1400 km bicycle ride around Sri Lanka to raise public support and funds for children living with cerebral palsy (CP). The ten-day bicycle tour will take the cyclists to all corners of the country. All proceeds from the initiative will be donated to the Cerebral Palsy Lanka Foundation (CPLF).

‘Around the Pearl’ is an initiative by ‘Wheels for Wheels’ which is an initiative conducted in partnership with the Cerebral Palsy Lanka Foundation (CPLF), and WrooM a cycling community. With a new main sponsor Australian Property Consultancy on board the event will get significant publicity amongst the Australian donor community. Land Rover and Access Engineering continue as main sponsors with Linea Aqua as the platinum sponsor, Jetwing Hotels as Hotel Partner, Spinner as Technical Partner and Event Production as the event partner.

There will be three events this year in Sri Lanka along with a bicycle ride and a charity dinner in Melbourne to support Wheel for Wheels. The foundation’s goal is to raise funds for wheelchairs as well as to obtain technical expertise and knowledge transfer from the Melbourne CP foundation. The 10 day ride includes two exciting days of camping which will showcase the beauty of Sri Lanka to the world as a sport tourist destination. The Chalai Challenge, a 112 km off-road race through an uncharted coastal route will target 20 international riders and 50 local riders and will be a new calendar event for Around the Pearl this year.
The Colombo City Charity Ride targeting donors will engage the affluent locals, tourists and non-resident Sri Lankans. During the 10 day ride, 5 Cerebral Palsy Camps have been planned to be conducted which aims to donate over 500 wheelchairs to these living with CP at grassroots level.

The cyclists will travel the perimeter of the entire island and their journey will take them from the city of Colombo to Galle, Negombo, Mirissa, Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Mullaitvue, Jaffna, Mannar, Chilawa and onwards. During the course of the journey, members of the public will be able join the cyclists and pledge donations by logging on to www.aroundthepearl.lk

The ‘Around the Pearl’ initiative raised funds for 1500 wheelchairs last year, some of these wheelchairs will be donated to children in need across the country throughout this year’s journey. Additionally, special camps to raise awareness about cerebral palsy will be conducted in Galle, Batticaloa and Colombo. As the cyclists travel across the island, they will also conduct special WrooM cycling and road safety sessions for members of the local community under the project ‘Blinking Bikes and Save One Life’.

Commenting on this year’s ‘Around the Pearl’ journey, one of the cyclists Ajith Fernando – Managing Director, Capital Alliance, stated, “We feel honoured to participate in the ‘Around the Pearl’ initiative for the third consecutive year. Last year’s bicycle ride was an immense success and we were able to provide 1000 children living with cerebral palsy with greater mobility and freedom. This year, all the funds we raise will be donated to the Cerebral Palsy Lanka Foundation which provides assistance to children with cerebral palsy across the island. The incidence of children with cerebral palsy is a high as 12 – 15 over 1000 births in Sri Lanka while it is as low as 6 per 1000 births in the developed world. There are an estimated 40,000 children with Cerebral Palsy in Sri Lanka and CPLF strives to provide as many children as possible with therapeutic assistance to improve their quality of life.”

Cerebral palsy (CP) is the term used for a group of non-progressive disorders of movement and posture caused by the abnormal development of, or damage to, motor control centres of the brain. CP is a common physical disability that affects many children and is caused by events before, during or after birth. In Sri Lanka, CP remains a significant health problem and many parents are unable to provide adequate care for children with CP. Due to the social stigma of having a differently-abled child, many parents in Sri Lanka, keep their children out of the public eye. Additionally the lack of funds prevents parents from providing their children with adequate care and support. During the ‘Around the Pearl’ journey, the team hopes to dissolve the stigma around cerebral palsy in Sri Lanka whilst raising much needed awareness and funds to help children living with from the disorder.

To follow the ‘Around the Pearl’ journey and pledge your support, please log in to www.aroundthepearl.lk