Preparation is currently underway for an extraordinary event that will combine football, motorcycles, music and charity. During December 2009 and January 2010, the Eurobikers will travel throughout South Africa, raising awareness of AIDS and poverty on the African continent.

Eurobikers plan AIDS Awareness Ride in South Africa

Eurobikers is a unique group of people originating from all corners of society, including politics, business and the media. Each year, they organise large motorcycle tours throughout Europe in an effort to raise awareness and funds for worthy causes. Previous projects have included rides to Bulgaria and throughout Eastern Europe; however, this year the organisation plans to journey a little further.

To seize on the opportunity presented by the 2010 soccer World Cup, the Eurobikers will head to South Africa on their most ambitious trip to date - the Ride of Tolerance. The group intends to raise thousands of euros for good causes across the country, including an AIDS organisation and a child health and nutrition project. To complement the motorcycle journey, it is hoped that several music events will be staged throughout the tour in an attempt to focus further attention on the project.

Vice President Dr Hermann Munzel explains how the plans originated. "The idea for the South African trip originated in 2006, however there was a long process of research and evaluation before we made the ideas definite," he says. "We were keen to seize on the opportunity presented by the 2010 World Cup, as for several weeks the spotlight will be on South Africa. There will be thousands of people travelling to Africa from all over the world and they will be able to see for themselves the plight of the African people."

He continues: "I think that most people are aware of the difficulties Africa faces with HIV. It is not just Africa's problem - it's everybody's problem. The disease is a cruel reality and we felt that it was important to `build a bridge' by carrying out the tour."

As with every Eurobiker tour, preparation for the Ride of Tolerance has been meticulous. Not only is the route marked out (from Johannesburg to Cape Town, spanning 4,500km), but fund-raising and marketing plans are already in full swing. A major coup for the Eurobikers was securing Archbishop Desmond Tutu's support. As an eminent figure in the campaign for AIDS awareness, the Archbishop was more than happy to lend his patronage to the tour.

Elsewhere, support for the Ride of Tolerance has also been pledged by the German AIDS Foundation, the Fedration Internationale de Motorcyclisme, German soccer team Werder Bremen, the Christian Association of Motorcyclists VCM Germany and the Christian Motorcyclists of Africa CMA. Proceeds generated by the Ride of Tolerance will be donated to HOPE, a South African charity that educates township populations about the dangers of AIDS and how the disease can be prevented.

"We are also raising money for the Philani Child Health and Nutrition Project - another good cause that we would like to raise awareness of," Dr Munzel adds. "We are delighted to be involved with both charities and look to raise as much money as we can. We intend to raise between ?60,000 and ?100,000 through donations and our kilometre purchase schemes, where large organisations are able to sponsor sections of the route. Although we are hopeful that we can raise a lot of money, we are also realistic that the world is in a difficult financial position at the moment."

Despite the global economic crisis, Dr Munzel believes that one of the hardest tasks facing the Eurobikers is purely logistical. "The biggest challenge that we face is getting enough bikes for the journey," he reveals. "It will be a difficult logistical operation to transport the bikes from Germany, and it won't be easy to loan bikes in South Africa.

We anticipate anywhere between 60 and 120 participants on the ride, so it will be tough to ensure everybody has a bike."

Dr Munzel reveals that his ultimate goal is to ride his own motorcycle into Cape Town to complete the journey. "I would love to ride my faithful BMW R1150GS Adventure into Cape Town - that is my ambition! In fact, most of the Eurobikers use BMW motorcycles. Due to the length of the journeys that are undertaken during our charity trips, we require bikes that are good over long distances and a variety of terrain, and we have found that BMW machines are the best suited to the task."

Although preparations for the trip - taking place between 26 December 2009 and 10 January 2010 - are well underway, there is still chance for the general public to be part of this ambitious project. During March, the Eurobikers are inviting applications from any motorcyclist interested in getting involved with the Ride of Tolerance. For more information on how you can participate, please contact Dr Munzel by emailing dr.hermann.munzel@t-online.de and for more details on the Eurobikers please visit www.eurobiker.de.