Lawyer bikers cross India to raise £19,000 for charity

Three motorcycling lawyers from Cardiff and their colleagues have raised £19,000 for charity.

The three are Rob Beer and Raj Rajamohan from Newport and Mike Brown from Dinas Powys, and they all colleagues at Cardiff-based law firm NewLaw.

They work together on the firm's motorcycle claims team, and many of their clients suffer serious back injuries as a result of accidents. So they had the idea of raising money for the Spinal Injuries Association, the leading charity for back injuries. Team leader Rob Beer explains how the idea for the charity ride across India first arose: Road accidents are the major cause of spinal cord injury, he says.

We're all everyday bikers and so naturally we empathize with the cases we all work on where bikers have suffered tragic and life-changing injuries. We've become acutely aware of the challenges faced by those with serious spinal injuries every day of their lives. The Spinal Injuries Association offers life-long support to those who have suffered spinal cord injury, and to their families and carers.

The trip took six days and covered 1300 kilometres of often rough terrain. All three bikers rode Royal Enfield Bullets.

From the crowded, noisy and chaotic roads of Delhi into the isolated and staggeringly beautiful Himalayan foot-hills, the disparity of what we saw couldn't have been greater, Rob Beer recalls.

India is an incredibly diverse and developing country and its people so welcoming. The journey was both challenging and enlightening, and for us all it was a truly rewarding, life-changing adventure. But while the three were making their way across the sub-continent their colleagues back in Cardiff were urging donations through a special website set up for the purpose.

The finale of the project on the bikers return was a black tie ball held on Saturday at the Mercure Holland House hotel, with all proceeds going to the charity. Nearly 400 people crammed into the event, from as far afield as London. It featured two bands and a spectacular prize draw.

The prize which raised most money was free use of a five-bedroom chalet in the French Alps. It eventually went for £3,500. Another star of the raffle was a diamond pendant donated by Parkhouse jewellers and which raised £760.

Helen Molyneux, Managing Partner at Newlaw commented "We were overwhelmed at the level of generosity for the charity ball in aid of the Spinal Injuries Association, from those that donated the prizes, to those that attended the evening's event, which helped us almost double our target of 10k. "

08/11/2010