Aftab Rahman said the bike ride had been “great fun”
A group of charity cyclists completed a 250-mile (402 km) bike ride in Bangladesh to raise money for a new school.
Birmingham-based Freedom 50 brought cyclists from the capital Dhaka to Sylhet in a bid to raise £100,000.
Organizer Aftab Rahman said the bike ride, which they completed on February 8 after four days in the saddle, was “great fun.”
He said the group was more than halfway to its fundraising goal.
“I’ve been motivated by trying to improve the lives of children and youth,” Rahman said.
The proposed school would be built in Jamalpur, which has been badly affected by flooding and erosion made worse by climate change.
Mr. Rahman described the current building, attended by 114 students, as “a tin shack”, while the new school would include solar panels and rain-capture technology, making it more resistant to extreme weather events.
Most of the cyclists who participated were from Bangladesh.
For the second phase of the project, Mr. Rahman hopes to build a complete playground with a bike path.
He gathered a group of cyclists to take part in the charity ride, saying, “Most of the participants were from Bangladesh, it was like a homecoming for us.”
The group also welcomed cyclists from Germany, Belgium and Pakistan and Rahman said they would receive a “hero’s welcome” when they reached towns and villages along the route.
“People knew who we were,” he said. “When we got to the cities, people would join us on their bikes and welcome us.”
The group has planned other charity bike rides, including across the UK in May and another from London to Paris in August.
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