The Great Fashion Cycle- London to Paris

The challenge The Environmental Justice Foundation are looking for volunteers to join their team and embark on "The Great Fashion Cycle" from London to Paris in aid of our work addressing human rights and environmental abuses in the fashion industry. Whatever your level of cycling, whether you have a passion for fashion or ants in your pants for making a difference, we want you to join us on this ride of a lifetime! EJF is looking for enthusiastic people to cycle from London to Paris on a 300-mile cycle challenge linking Europe’s iconic style capitals. The ride will raise essential funds for EJF’s environmental and human rights work, helping promote a fairer future for the fashion industry. Around the world, whether it is state enforced, or child trafficking, millions of children face severe exploitation in the cotton industry. In Uzbekistan, the world’s 3rd largest exporter of cotton, roughly a third of the population are forced to work in conditions near slavery for the state run cotton industry. Many are children. Schools across the country are shut down for the cotton harvest as children from the age of 7 are sent to work for weeks in the fields, paid little or nothing, but benefiting their repressive government through this forced labour. The success of EJF’s work on cotton has rocked the industry, firmly placing these issues under the spotlight. This has led to dramatic policy changes in some of the world’s biggest buyers of cotton, but there’s still more work to be done. To take part in this cycle ride all you have to do is pay a small registration fee and raise the minimum sponsorship. We’ll provide travel and accommodation... and an experience you will never forget! With your pedal power we can change the face of fashion for the better. EJF welcomes individuals or teams to join in the fun on this sponsored ride and make new friends during this once in a lifetime experience! Cycling from London to Paris is one of the great cycle experiences in Europe. Passing through picturesque countryside, you will cross the Channel and continue through the small villages and medieval market towns of Northern France. With long days in the saddle the sight of the Eiffel Tower, the finishing point, will evoke a real sense of achievement! Dates: 1 - 5 July or 9 - 13 September 2009 Challenge days: 5 (4 days cycling) Accommodation: 2-3 star hotels What’s included: Travel by ferry to France and return travel to London on Eurostar, accommodation, all meals (excluding dinner on the ferry on day 1 and lunch and dinner on day 5)mechanics, guides and medical support Registration: £99 Sponsorship: £1250 - All fundraising incurs costs and we ask you to raise a minimum amount of sponsorship to take part in this trip.

Beautiful landscapes day by day DAY 1: An early start from SE London allows us to avoid the morning traffic. Our route takes us SE away from the main routes towards Tonbridge and on through the Kent countryside to Dover where we catch the ferry to Calais DAY 2: After breakfast we head south through beautiful French countryside. Our route will take us along small quiet roads through villages and small towns. Night in Arras. DAY 3: This morning after a couple of tough days in the saddle our legs may feel a little tired. Today we continue south through villages and along quiet French roads to the more forested region around Compiegne, where we spend the night. DAY 4: Our final day's cycling takes us SW initially through small villages and woodland before we meet the outskirts of Paris. We cycle though the Parisian streets around the Arc de Triumph to our finish beneath the lofty arches of the Eiffel Tower. Celebration meal. DAY 5: Free day in Paris and Eurostar home (to London!)

What's next? Once you have fully registered you will receive all the support and advice you need to get prepared for this event and to raise your sponsorship. EJF can send you loads of fundraising and 'get fit' tips and we are always on hand to answer questions.

You can sign up here.
See you there!!!