Plea to governments as £1m fundraising challenge under threat
A Birmingham-based blood cancer charity has issued a plea to UK and French governments after a £1m fundraising event was thrown into doubt with less than a month to go.
Cure Leukaemia 's 'The Tour 21 ' challenge is due to take place between 19 June and 11 July, with a team - led by ex-footballer and blood cancer survivor Geoff Thomas - riding all 21 stages of the Tour de France a week ahead of the professionals.
However, the French Government 's announcement of seven-day quarantine restrictions for visitors to France from the UK has put the 3,384km cycling challenge under threat.
Geoff (pictured) and his team have already raised £700,000 towards their £1m target, which would help fund a crucial national blood cancer clinical trials network.
Cancellation of the challenge would also put the clinical trials network under threat.
Geoff and the man who saved his life, Professor Charlie Craddock, are urging the UK and French governments to grant the team a special dispensation so that they do not have to quarantine for the mandatory seven-day period on arrival in France.
Geoff, aged 56, said: “The announcement by the French government has placed The Tour 21 event at serious risk with three weeks to go until we are due to set off.
“As a former patient myself I know that vital funds from events like The Tour 21 save lives and hence why I urge both the UK and French Governments to provide us with the special dispensation we now need to take on the challenge and raise £1m.
“With last year 's event also being postponed we have been training now for nearly two years and throughout the endless hours of training we have undertaken, we have always had patients at the forefront of our minds knowing that this is much more than just a cycling challenge.
“By raising at least £1m from The Tour 21 we will ensure more blood cancer patients survive this horrible disease and give hope to blood cancer patients across the world. ”
Cure Leukaemia recorded a £1.7m fundraising shortfall in 2020 due to the pandemic and The Tour 21 team, which was increased from 20 to 25 riders after the postponement last summer, are aiming to help the charity address this shortfall.
Cure Leukaemia co-founder Professor Craddock CBE said: “The Covid-19 pandemic has shown that rapid recruitment of patients to pioneering, practice informing clinical trials is absolutely fundamental.
“There is no point having this wave of new drugs being created by global pharmaceutical companies sitting on laboratory benches and the Cure
“Leukaemia-funded TAP network provides the perfect vehicle for these new treatments to be assessed as quickly as possible.
“Not only do patients directly benefit as a result of these trials by accessing potentially life-saving therapies; the information generated from these studies informs the treatment of blood cancer across the world.
“The funds raised by Geoff and all of The Tour 21 team will enable globally transformative and life-saving work to continue and there can be no stronger message than this on World Blood Cancer Day. ”