Cycling for a good cause - every year since 1983, celebrities from politics, sport and the media as well as committed amateur cyclists have pedalled in the "Tour of Hope". Their goal: to raise money for children with cancer and their families. Stadtwerke Gießen (SWG) has been a partner for 25 years. This anniversary is the focus of the tour stop on the church square on 14 August.
Over 40 million euros - the "Tour of Hope" has raised this enormous amount of money since it was founded 36 years ago. The entire sum, without any deductions, has gone to organisations responsible for the treatment and care of children with cancer. A great success that is the result of an incredible amount of work. And this is where things get exciting. Because the entire organisation is based on voluntary work.
"The people behind the 'Tour of Hope' deserve our respect. That's why it's important to us to support them in their work and do our part to make it a success," explains Matthias Funk, Technical Director of Stadtwerke Gießen (SWG), at the press conference for the official presentation of this year's route and adds: "We are delighted to have been a partner of this more than remarkable fundraiser for 25 years now."
Everything will revolve around the good partnership over a quarter of a century when the group of cyclists dressed in uniform green arrives at Giessen's church square at around 4 p.m. on 14 August 2019 to interrupt the prologue for around an hour. Here, SWG will provide a colourful supporting programme with music and, above all, the introduction of the celebrity riders. As at the other stops, donation cheques will of course be handed over.
Convincing all round
Celebrities who cycle along and thus promote the cause have been part of the tour concept from the very beginning. Getting them on board has never been a problem. Most of them have been taking part for many years, and new participants regularly join in. Petra Behle, Olympic champion, nine-time world champion in biathlon and patron of the tour since 2001, knows why: "Anyone who gets on their bike for the 'Tour of Hope' can be sure that every euro raised goes to where it is urgently needed. Transparency has always been the top priority for the organisers. This is why the City of Giessen's treasury has been managing the donations from the very beginning.
All costs that inevitably arise during such an event are borne by sponsors such as SWG. "This procedure is the most important reason why the 'Tour of Hope' has been so well received throughout Germany and why public figures have repeatedly committed themselves to the good cause," adds Gerhard Becker. He is one of the initiators of the tour and has been the head of organisation for 30 years.
Greater Cologne-Ruhr area-Bergisches Land region
In 2019, the Tour of Hope will take the athletes through the Bergisches Land region. They will stop in Siegen, Cologne, Leverkusen, Wuppertal and Bochum and visit the children's hospital in St. Augustin, among other places. Including the prologue in and around Giessen, they will cover 375 kilometres over four days. "We hope to draw attention once again this year to the fact that the fight against cancer needs private commitment," says Dr Matthias Rinn. And Karsten Koch adds: "We usually manage to do this especially at our stops in the communities along the tour". The two are active as sporting directors.
Keyword donations: Stadtwerke Gießen will again be selling raffle tickets for the benefit of the charity tour at the SWG customer centre on Marktplatz until 30 September 2019. Of course, all proceeds will go into the donation pot. The prize is a Skoda Scala worth 20,200 euros. In addition, all those who buy a ticket from SWG have the traditional additional opportunity. "Once again this year, all tickets purchased from us will be entered into an extra prize draw," announces Ina Weller, company spokesperson for SWG. The prizes for this second chance are also impressive: SWG is offering 5,000, 3,500 and 2,000 kilowatt hours of Giessen green electricity respectively.
Further information is available at
www.stadtwerke-giessen.de/tdh or
www.tour-der-hoffnung.de