From the end of April, it will be travelling on various routes in Giessen and the surrounding area - the official Tour der Hoffnung bus of Stadtwerke Giessen AG (SWG). Together with Gerhard Becker, Head of Organisation of the Tour of Hope, Manfred Siekmann, CEO of SWG, presented the Tour of Hope bus to numerous tour participants. The patron of the tour, Petra Behle, Olympic champion and multiple world champion in the biathlon, and Klaus-Peter Thaler, captain of the riders and former cycling world champion, were delighted with this successful presentation.
The fact that the city bus with the Tour of Hope emblem travels through the university city every day is just another sign of Stadtwerke's long-standing commitment to the Tour. The Giessen-based energy and water supplier has been actively supporting the Tour of Hope for nine years now. "True to our slogan Your life - our energy, we not only supply our customers with the energy they need, but are also happy to get involved for a good cause," explained Siekmann. "If we can support the tour with our commitment and thus help children with cancer, then this help gives us the confirmation that we are doing good with our work. I can now say that this support has become part of our company tradition," said Siekmann.
SWG organised a charity concert with the Big Band of the German Armed Forces to mark the 20th anniversary of the cycle tours last year. The donations from this event also went to the Peiper ward at Giessen University Hospital. This year, it was not only the aim of Stadtwerke to support the tour, but also to raise its profile in the region. Regardless of the region in which the tour is travelling, the successes are obvious:
For 21 years, the initiators of the Tour of Hope have been getting on their bikes year after year to collect donations for children suffering from leukaemia and cancer. The Goodwill Cycle Tour was launched by Professor Fritz Lampert in Giessen in 1983. To date, the cyclists have collected over 14 million euros.
Before more than 160 cyclists pedalled for a good cause again this year, many celebrities from the worlds of business, politics and sport joined the patron on the "maiden voyage" by bus through Giessen.
"It's time again on 11 August. The tour begins with a prologue in Giessen and then takes the cyclists through Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. The five stages are intended to be a tour of encounters and open co-operation. The positive response and the good donation result from last year give us, the organisers and participants, the necessary ambition for the planned tour," explained Becker.