Ashes winning captain Michael Vaughan is replacing his Strictly Come Dancing costume with lycra cycle shorts later this year as he undertakes a UK-wide bike ride to raise funds for the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation and the Cricket Foundation’s Chance to Shine initiative.
Laureus Ambassador Vaughan, who famously inspired England to their memorable 2005 Ashes victory, announced today that he will be leading a team of charity fund-raisers on a 12-day tour of England cricket grounds to coincide wit h the One Day International series against Australia from September 6–17.
Starting with the first One Day International at Headingley in Leeds, Vaughan’s peloton will route via Old Trafford in Manchester, Edgbaston in Birmingham, the Swalec Stadium in Cardiff and the Aegeas Bowl in Southampton before finishing in London.
Vaughan, who showed an entirely different side of his character as he reached the ninth week of popular TV show Strictly Come Dancing to national acclaim, said: “I loved taking part in Strictly. It was terrific fun and incredibly hard work. This is going to be a seriously different challenge, but I am really looking forward to it. I’ll be cycling 462 miles over the 12 days and that is not going to be easy, but these are two really good causes.
“For more than a decade Laureus has been using sport as the means to help improve the lives of young people and it now reaches 34 countries. Since it started, Laureus has helped more than one-and-a-half million kids and supports around 140 sports-based community projects around the world.
“Chance to Shine is keeping cricket alive in schools. Over the past seven years it has brought competitive cricket and its educational benefits to nearly two million young people in thousands of state schools.”
Michael Vaughan launched his cycle ride at Lord’s, the Home of Cricket, where he was supported by current England women’s cricket stars Lydia Greenway and Susie Rowe. Also there were children from Chance to Shine projects in London who joined the former England captain for a coaching session at the MCC Cricket Academy.
The itinerary for the ride is:
Friday, Sept 6: First One Day International, Headingley, Leeds
Saturday, Sept 7: Leeds to Manchester (80 miles)
Sunday, Sept 8: Second One Day International, Old Trafford, Manchester
Monday, Sept 9: Cycle Challenge at the Manchester Velodrome
Tuesday, Sept 10: Manchester to Birmingham (91 miles)
Wednesday, Sept 11: Third One Day International, Edgbaston, Birmingham
Thursday, Sept 12: Birmingham to Brecon Beacons (86 miles)
F riday, Sept 13: Brecon Beacons to Cardiff (55 miles)
Saturday, Sept 14: Fourth One Day International, Swalec Stadium, Cardiff
Sunday, Sept 15: Cardiff to Southampton (80 miles)
Monday, Sept 16: Fifth One Day International, Aegeas Bowl, Southampton
Tuesday, Sept 17: Southampton to London (70 miles)
Guest cyclists will be able to join any of the stages and will be asked to raise funds for Laureus and Chance to Shine. Fund-raisers should go to http://www.laureus.com/
Michael Vaughan is a Laureus Ambassador, a select group of current and retired sportsmen and sportswomen, who, along with the members of the Laureus World Sports Academy, support the work of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation.
The Laureus Sport for Good Foundation uses sport as the means to combat some of the world’s toughest social challenges facing young people today such as juvenile crime, gangs, gun and knife violence, HIV/AIDS, discrimination, social exclusion, landmines awareness and health problems like obesity. Since its inception, Laureus has raised over €60 million to support its work around the world.
Before the Cricket Foundation launched Chance to Shine in 2005, fewer than 10% of state schools played competitive cricket. Seven years on, Chance to Shine has linked 1,000 cricket clubs to 6,500 schools and their specialist coaches have brought cricketing opportunities to 1.8 million state school children. Young people involve d in the programme are also developing essential life skills and values, such as leadership, discipline, teamwork and understanding how to win and lose.
For further information, please contact:
Gerald Meier,
Head of Global Communications
Tel: +44 (0)20 7514 2749
E mail: publicrelations@laureus.com
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Video Archive: www.laureusdigital.com
Websites: www.laureus.com
Follow us on Twitter @LaureusSport
Fabian Devlin,
Head of Communications Cricket Foundation
E mail: fabian.devlin@
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7820 7551
Mobile: +44 (0)7920 502 152