The journey begins.......

My journey began when I applied to volunteer with Voluntary Service Overseas after meeting Mary, my local VSO organiser for Cheshire. I’d found her on the VSO website and it went from there. I’ve always wanted the opportunity to live and work within a very different culture from my own and I find Africa especially fascinating. I had no idea if I was going to be a suitable candidate, but decided to apply to VSO anyway.

From initial application, to detailed application, to assessment day at VSO in London, I was still left wondering if I had what it takes. Since receiving my acceptance email, the process has been a roller coaster of online training, residential training and fund raising. I’ve tried to embrace all the new experiences and challenges head on, although not always with confidence, but am now looking forward to my placement as a methodology trainer for primary teachers in Rwanda. I am both excited and daunted by my departure on 1st September.

My fund raising idea came from a chance conversation with another VSO member in the Cheshire group, who'd cycled with her son along the waterways for charity. My own challenge has been to cycle 120 miles to Bidford-on-Avon in Warwickshire, where, until four years earlier, we'd lived as a family for 20 years. In June my son Adam and I left Bollington in Cheshire, from a Bacon Butty Send-off at the Cafe Waterside, taking 4 days to cycle along the waterways to the Cottage of Content pub at Bidford, near Stratford-upon-Avon. Chris, as backup driver, brought the caravan to nearby campsites for overnight stops. Adam and I cycled along six different canals, a route which took us directly under Spaghetti Junction in Birmingham during thunderstorms and flooding! Apart from severe storms that day, which left us and the towpaths muddy and slimy, we suffered no injuries and had only one puncture, although there were a few close shaves on the edge of the canal!

Arriving a day early, we set up camp in the pub field where we met up with friends and other family members. With live music donated by two local bands, Risky Business and Loose Covers, a raffle, a ‘round the world’ tombola and a VSO chilli meal served by the pub, the Saturday evening 'Cyclefest' was a lively social event, helped in part by some rare evening sun. The whole cycle ride event raised £807 offline, with more donations on the Just Giving page. It was overwhelming to realise just how many people came to support or were involved in some way.
Thank you to you all!