ABOUT THIS BLOG

On April 17th 2011 I will be cycling over 11,000 miles from Hyde Park in London to Brisbane, Australia. I'll have very little time and money, so I will be pedaling furiously over 100 miles a day, for around 120 days, hoping to arrive in Brisbane in late August. I will be cycling through France, Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, Iran, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and finally Australia.

I will, with your help, try to raise £20,000 for UK-based Shelter.

Shelter is a UK-based charity that provides advice, information, and advocacy to those who are homeless or who live in bad housing conditions. Through lobbying and campaigning, Shelter also seeks to raise political awareness of those in housing need, and to push for lasting political reform to ensure that housing is a right, not a privilege.

As a result of rising unemployment caused by the recession, and the subsequent government cuts to housing subsidy, we can expect to see more people living on the streets or on the verge of losing their homes. With unemployment at its highest level in 17 years and 1.7 million currently on council housing waiting lists, the threat of homelessness in the UK has never been greater.

The recession was not caused by those in housing need, and yet their situation is set to get worse. No one chooses to sleep rough, and yet the savage cuts to homeless services in local authority budgets - up to 40% in some areas – are seeing homeless shelters and hostels being closed throughout the country, which will leave those in vulnerable housing need with little choice but to turn to the streets for shelter.

It’s staggering to think that in the 21st century, a wealthy, post-industrial nation such as the UK still fails to provide housing as a right to its citizens and that this situation is getting worse - entirely the result of the criminal recklessness of the financial sector. Furthermore, the UK government refuses to increase the stock of council housing to meet the current demand, and has done nothing to clamp down on rogue landlords charging extortionate rents.

It is left to the work of the non-profit sector to clean up the mess caused by the financial aristocracy and their friends in central government.

This is why Shelter needs donations, and why I am cycling to Australia to raise awareness of its cause. Please give as generously as you can, and spread the word about this blog and the trip.

And buy the next homeless person you see a cup of tea.....

Oliver