Despite the pre-dawn hour, the valiant Aidha team of staff, students and volunteers were carting boxes of water and isotonic drinks,  bananas  and oranges; hanging up banners and blowing up balloons; and registering participants for the Aidha Tour de Singapore Bike Ride 2016. More than 170 wonderful cyclists took part to help us to raise funds for our programmes. Everyone had fun, the weather cooperated with us, there was lots of good homemade food and, most importantly, each and every cyclist made it back safely to East Coast Park. To date, we’ve raised about $50K so far. While it is still far away from our target of $150K, the donations continue to come in and we are hopeful that we will soon be much closer to our target. We look back at the fun and buzz of the Aidha’s 4th Tour de Singapore Bike Ride.

Sunday, 24 April 2016

Volunteer Miin Hwang sorting out the items for The Big Day!

The day before: sorting over 30 cases of Pocari Sweat, water, bananas and oranges!

Sunday, 24 April 2016

4am and the team is already unloading supplies at the East Coast Park.

Blowing up balloons is hard work at this unearthly hour!  

Cyclists started arriving to register at the crack of dawn.

“It’s been so heartening to see the huge support from volunteers for the foreign domestic worker beneficiaries..Our 10 Mavericks (a regional amateur racing team), volunteered their help by marshalling the riders, leading them through the route and helping in the case of punctures or technical problems” – Benedict Chen (2nd from right), Specialized Singapore

Nothing beats a group selfie at 5am!

“Aidha [helps] change the mindset of fellow Foreign Domestic Workers (FDWs) and teaches us how to save money for our futures.I wanted to participate today to help FDWs who need help with affording the course fees… I wanted to fundraise for the programmes” – Janelyn Pascua (far left), Alumni and trainee, class of 2009 who cycled 50km.

“Do I have time for a coffee first?”

A short safety briefing from The Mavericks before the bikers were flagged off

Aidha CEO, Karen Fernandez flags off the first 100km(fast) group at 5.30am

And they’re off…

Akash Mohapatra riding in the 50km category

Volunteers Angelo Roxas and Nick Duncan setting out the food and refreshments   

“The cyclists coming in, and the happy students are a  great highlight, it’s a great community feeling!” – Marjanne van der Helm, Student Affairs Manager

The Aidha Tour de Singapore sign is up and ready to welcome the bikers

Blowing up balloons at the Pasir Ris drink station while waiting for the bikers to arrive

Great set-up from the team at Woodlands Waterfront

Bananas, snack bars, water, Pocari : we’re all ready for the bikers!

Bikers from 100km groups are coming in towards their first stop

Amazing teamwork from The Mavericks and Race2Share

A family affair: Dads, Moms, and children cycling together, having fun, and helping our cause.

Volunteers busy filling up the bottles of the bikers with isotonic drinks

The 100km team heading towards the Pasir Ris drinking station

Going  bananas? The Mavericks having a laugh while taking a short break!  

Board member and co-founder, Claudine Lim, with the first cyclist to finish the Bike Ride along with Aidha CEO, Karen Fernandez, and Aidha supporter, Angelo Roxas

Pom-poms, flags and loud cheers greet the the bikers at the finish line

A happy biker and lots of cheers from the students 

“We made it!” Bikers arriving at the finish line

Cheese! A wefie to commemorate this exciting day

Fear not! The men in black from CISCO, Aidha Programmes Manager,  Chua Siew Joo, and student Mulyastuti were on hand to guard bikes at the end

Bikers could confidently leave their bikes in our Bike Park and head off for a massage or sample the food made by our students   

Cookies, cupcakes and an array of delicious food made by our talented students

“It’s been amazing to see it all come to fruition: everyone having a good time, the enthusiasm of all the volunteers, how involved everyone has been, and how tasty the food is!” – Avni Thacker, (left)  Volunteer from the Organising Committee

The cyclists are all smiles after completing the Bike Ride

“I came early in the morning at about 4am in the morning to help set up everything. And now I am helping with the raffle, I’m hoping to sell all the tickets!” – Radliyah, Aidha alumni and Trainee, from Central Java, Indonesia

A much needed massage to soothe tired muscles! The team from the Singapore Association of the Visually Handicapped (SAVH) had a long line of bikers waiting for their turn!  

“In Race2Share, we race and fundraise for our beneficiaries as well as raise awareness about the beneficiaries. As a kick-off project, we proposed a conservative fundraising goal of SGD$1,000 but we managed to exceed it and raised SGD$15000.” – Marianne, programme director (2nd from left) and Jen, President (3rd from left) of Race2Share

The Mavericks led the groups safely and successfully. With Aidha CEO , Karen Fernandez (right)  

Thank you everyone for cheering, volunteering, riding and fundraising!

Hip hip hurray! Thank you everyone for a fun, safe and successful event!  Till we see you again at the Aidha Tour de Singapore 2017

Photos courtesy of our volunteer photographers Muriel Khine from Sweety Photo & Media Arts, Elvin Ling, Rupal Virmani and Nick Duncan