Charities
Use of funds from the 2025 legs
2025 was the best fundraising year in our history: £308,000 raised for our causes. As the fundraising grows and the use of funds becomes more diverse, we publish a short annual report on where it all went.
The 2025 split
£158,000
1moreChild
Day to day activities and the costs of educating and housing 150 children in Jinja, Uganda — plus items cut during COVID such as extra food, camps, football costs and clothes.
£150,000
Lyra in Africa
Split across the Youth Entrepreneur Scheme, a new Ride25 hostel, a Cycle to School pilot and a wildlife conservation education programme in Tanzania.
Our primary cause is 1moreChild. Once we hit the annual fundraising target they need, the surplus goes to Lyra in Africa.
Where the money came from
Corporate Sponsors
£92,000 · 30%
Pioneers Auction
£88,000 · 29%
Individual Fundraising & Donations
£69,000 · 22%
Founders Ticket Donation
£59,000 · 19%
- Total £308,000
The years ahead look strong: Pioneers Leg 15 is at an all time high of 125+ riders, Founders Leg 5 has a record 90 sign-ups with more sponsors behind it, and the auction keeps growing in lots, bidders and bids.
1moreChild — £158,000
Alongside the day to day costs of educating and housing 150 children, we have added back basics dropped since COVID. Some of what that paid for:
University places
12 pupils received A Level results and 10 qualified for university, three of them girls. We are looking for sponsors to get them there — a qualification is what keeps the girls from drifting back to Masese.
Medical
In the past 12 months 1moreChild funded a number of medical emergencies, saving the lives of three children and regaining the hearing of two more.
Udon Francis
From surviving on the streets of Jinja to studying law at Kampala International University, driven by a determination to fight injustices like land grabbing. He is thriving on the course, with debates and a law court placement behind him.
Akol Mary
Now a qualified football referee.
Lokuta Mary
Studying hotel management and catering, sponsored by the R25 Ladies. She has been with 1moreChild since the beginning.
Lyra in Africa — £150,000
Lyra, based in Iringa in Tanzania, was set up so girls can finish their schooling. Their hostels, built in the grounds of government secondary schools, house 100 to 140 girls each so they no longer walk 10 to 20km to school. Drop-out rates have fallen from 15% to 2% a year and teenage pregnancies to zero. Fifteen hostels now house around 2,000 girls.
Youth Entrepreneur Scheme — £50,000
Started in 2017, the scheme trains young people and provides a savings and loan scheme so they can start a business. Over 1,300 entrepreneurs are now running businesses from mushroom farms to chickens to food supplements, with 80% at least doubling their income and employing at least one other person. The £50,000 trains a new intake of 100 young people in Iringa on the 12 month scheme that started in March, plus 30 post-school young people for 1moreChild in Uganda.
Ride25 hostel — £74,000
A new hostel in a new community, housing 140 girls through the school year. The donation covers the majority of the construction, with the balance committed by the local community, the land provided by the school and the running costs taken on by the school once it opens.
Ride25 Cycle to School pilot
Thirty bikes for children in rural communities so they can cycle to school — a possible alternative to building some hostels. Budget and details still being ironed out, particularly bike theft and maintenance, likely an opportunity for youths on the Entrepreneur Scheme.
Wildlife conservation
A pilot education programme with STEP in schools neighbouring the game reserves, helping people live and work alongside the animals. Its scale depends on the final Cycle to School budget.
Why Lyra?
- Tackles a similar problem to 1moreChild — getting disadvantaged children into school
- An enterprise scheme that fits our profile, where our riders can mentor ambitious entrepreneurs
- No Western costs — all trustees and fundraisers are volunteers
- A small amount of money goes a long way and is very efficiently spent
- Great, thoughtful leadership from Maria
Background
1moreChild
1moreChild grew steadily from 2012 to 2018 as the rides started producing significant funds, and the money raised has broadly matched what they need. COVID travel bans meant no legs between 2020 and 2022, reserves were depleted and costs were cut hard. Since then the cost base has risen — food inflation and more secondary school children — but fundraising has exceeded it, rebuilding reserves of roughly five months' expenditure. With no new children being taken on, 1moreChild forecast their budget halving over five years and reaching zero within ten.
Can I visit Lyra?
Our July 2025 visit to Tanzania was a pilot: a handful of parents and children visiting the schools, sleeping and eating in the villages and doing the long walk to school every day, finishing with a safari in a lesser-known wildlife park. The perfect age for the youngsters is around 15 to 30, and it can be combined with a beach trip to Zanzibar. See LyraWalk.com for the October trip — a few people are committed already, including John Readman and his daughter Lottie. Contact us if you would like to know more.