On 21 October 2017, London-based Flight Centre travel consultants Reece Gilkes and Matt Bishop will embark on the first ever circumnavigation of the globe on a scooter with a sidecar.
Matt and Reece will kick off the expedition with a London to Paris Launch Rally. They will be accompanied by a large convoy of scooters, sidecars and other vehicles, leaving the Ace Café, London at 07:00am. The rally aims to raise awareness of Unseen UK who operate the UK's Modern Slavery Helpline. Around 70 people have already signed up to join the rally for just £25, which includes a return ticket via Eurotunnel Le Shuttle, thanks to support for the cause from Eurotunnel. A few remaining places are available for those wishing to join the rally.
The pair will then scoot over five continents, through over 50 countries and cover around 40,000 miles on the most inappropriate mode of transport imaginable – a scooter with a sidecar. The trip itself, sponsored by Flight Centre UK, will take up to 18 months and will involve travelling on a mixture of tarmac, mud, gravel, ice and sand, with temperatures reaching highs of 40 and potentially touching minus 20.
Matt and Reece are taking on this huge Guinness World Record breaking challenge to raise awareness and funds for the fight against modern day slavery. There are currently 45.8 million people enslaved in every country globally, including the UK. That's enough people to fill Wembley Stadium over 500 times and more than double what there was at the peak of the transatlantic slave trade.
Matt said “The decisions we make back home often don't reflect our intentions and that's because we're not personally connected to the people we're affecting. Think about it – would you buy that cheap t-shirt if it was going to make life worse for somebody you know? By telling the personal stories of the people we meet during our journey and sharing details of their everyday life, we're hoping to help people in the UK feel more connected with them. We believe that by championing our shared similarities we can help people realise the everyday decisions we make at home affect real people, just like them, all around the world.”
Reece said: “The way we learn about people who are from somewhere different to us is wrong. Huge groups of people are often defined by a single story. This story is usually impossible to relate to and instead of connecting with people personally we often end up pitying or fearing them. That's why we're going on this mission: to find similarities between different people from different places and tell different stories that truly reflect the people we meet. Hopefully this way we can fight the stereotyping and create a more personally connected world.”
In preparation for their epic adventure, and to get some experience of living by the road, riding in the cold and sharing stories, Matt and Reece have completed an epic UK tour. They travelled from London to Lands' End, to John O'Groats, to London again on 125cc learner bikes in the middle of December 2016. On the 2,200-mile route, they had to endure 12 days of rain, extreme cold and up to 14 hours riding each day. When they were not riding, Matt and Reece were either attempting fix the bikes or in local schools talking about the expedition and the reasons behind it. They've also undertaken emergency survival training, with Survival Wisdom in Cornwall, to ensure they're fully prepared for every scenario.
As well as aiming to inspire genuine change, the project has a fundraising target of £50,000 which will go towards the organisations fighting modern day slavery and other human rights abuses – including Unseen UK and the local organisations visited en-route – as well as helping fund the costs of the trip.
Flight Centre is supporting the campaign because the company's success comes down to its people; experienced Travel Experts who are passionate about finding their customers the holiday they want, for the price they want.
The team at Flight Centre are experts when it comes to travel and are committed to providing customers with a great experience. The Flight Centre team can organise anything from flights to tailor-made holidays, hotels, car hire, tours, travel insurance, visas and more. They also have dedicated First and Business Class flight teams and Business Travel teams to help with any specialised travel needs.
