Colleagues to ride motorbikes to Istanbul and back for charity empowering children impacted by trafficking
Two colleagues are soon taking on the challenge of riding their motorbikes to Istanbul and back for a charity dedicated to empowering children impacted by human trafficking.
Steven Poole and Max Hernandez will be riding 5,300 miles across 21 countries over a 17-day period, starting from London next Thursday August 28.
The pair hope to raise as much awareness and funds for Blue Bear Freedom UK as they can, which exists to protect, equip and empower children affected by human trafficking.
The journey that Steven and Max will take includes many routes still used in the crime of human trafficking today, as people are smuggled across borders into situations of modern slavery.
Steven told the Chronicle & Echo that there are more people living in slavery today than at any time in history, which includes around 50 million people worldwide and 122,000 in the UK alone. One in four of those are children, he added.
40-year-old Steven, from Northampton, works as a sales director for International Property Finance Group – who arrange mortgages and other types of finance for UK and global clients looking for support.
The team is privileged to speak to people from different walks of life across the world, and it was in January when they were told about a charity named Blue Bear Freedom that is run by their client Bryn.
They were struck by the work done to tackle child trafficking, as well as Bryn’s direct involvement in rescuing and supporting children in incredibly tough situations.
It was following this conversation that International Property Finance Group knew they had to do something to support this charity, which is when the motorbike ride was agreed.
Talking about why they felt so passionately about this cause, Steven said: “We saw the impact of the hidden world and felt like this was meant to be. This is our chance to use our privileged position to make an impact, by sharing the work that Bryn does across our platforms.”
Steven likes to go on adventures on his motorbike, having visited Switzerland last year and Austria and the surrounding countries the year before.
The 40-year-old was already considering going on an adventure this summer, and knew a trip to Istanbul would be the perfect way to do something enjoyable for a worthy cause.
The goal is to raise £5,000 and Steven says it would make an “absolutely huge” difference to the charity. When children are found in these unsafe situations, they are often taken to police stations to be questioned about it.
International Property Finance Group hopes what they raise will go towards building safe and welcoming spaces for kids to be spoken to and looked after following their rescue.
As the pair are well on their way to reaching a fifth of the target before the fundraiser has even commenced, Steven says this has given them “faith in humanity” and they have been taken aback by the support. They hope this will continue when the challenge commences for the worthy cause.