We chatted to André and Colleen Robinson, two avid cyclists who are using the Different.org platform to crowdfund for the NSPCA in the Telkom 947 cycle race.
Why are you riding for NSPCA?
My hubby André and I have never been blessed with two-legged children, so our four-legged babies are our children!! Two of them have been adopted from SPCA and one from Animal Ark Centre.
They have brought us so much joy, happiness and love that we would never consider a home without our fur babies. There are so many other animals out there who do not have loving homes and live in the most horrendous situations with no one to care for them.
It is for this reason that the NSPCA is so close to our hearts. It is our privilege to ride for them as our little contribution to help raise funds to assist the animals who have no way of protecting and looking after themselves. Mostly it is humans causing pain and misery in their lives. The NSPCA responds to all calls of mistreatment to animals and requires funding for this. If we don’t have the time or opportunity to respond ourselves, at least this is one way of ensuring that loving,dedicated people are available to respond to cries for help.
What are your time goals for 947?
I have only been riding for three years and completed two 947’s, so my goal is to come in between 3:45 to 4 hours if all goes well. André, having cycled since 2010, is aiming to complete two laps this year (first lap in 3:00 – 3:10, and second one in 4:00 to 4:30).
Are you a regular rider and why do you love riding?
We both cycle regularly, taking part in all the major races. Our more serious races this year included the Kremetaart Cycle Race (175km) and Jock Cycle Race (153km), both completed in single days. We also love the Cape Town Argus Cycle Tour, Amashova and Telkom 947. We are blessed to live around the corner from the Cradle of Humankind where we get our weekly yoga on a bicycle. We love the sense of freedom to move faster than just being on foot, but still being outdoors. The satisfaction of living a healthy active lifestyle, feeling well and knowing that exercise is improving our health on a daily basis. Also, I just love the feeling of endorphins washing stress and life’s problems away. The only down-side is that we haven’t worked out a way of being able to take our fur babies with us on our cycling expeditions!!!
What is your secret to fundraising?
Sharing our passion of why we are supporting the NSPCA. So many of our friends and acquaintances are also animal lovers and recognise the importance and major benefits of having loving animals in our lives. It seems natural that they would also want to contribute towards helping those animals who are not as fortunate as our babies!!
What has assisted us in spreading the word is putting our motivation for riding for the NSPCA on Facebook and our Whatsapp groups with the easy link to the different.org website. Some of our friends even gave us more ideas of how we can increase the impact of the request and spread it to more people who would want to assist. And of course word of mouth when we are in direct contact with people on a daily basis.
Why do you think others should ride for NSPCA?
If you have a passion for cycling AND for animals, what better way than to combine the two and ride for a SERIOUSLY WORTHY CAUSE – helping the NSPCA in their mission to prevent cruelty, promote kindness and alleviate the suffering of animals. The cycling shirts are also awesome and will help to continue to spread the word every time we wear them we ride.
What advice can you give those looking to fundraise on Different.org?
Never be afraid to ask. If you don’t ask the answer will always be no. Share the link wherever you can and show how easy it is to donate to this worthy cause. The thank you message that people get after donating is also such a nice touch and of course an extra word of thanks from you when they have made their pledge.
Marle Fleischman :
Good day, we entered the 94.7’and would love to ride for the NSPCA. Where can I enquire about the cycle shirts, prices and sizes of the shirts (cats and dogs shirts)! Thank you and keep up the good work with the animals!