# Ben's Vietnam solo cycle tour raises thousands for Glasgow kids

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2007/01/09/ben039s-vietnam-solo-cycle-tour-raises-thousands-glasgow-kids/
- Published: 2007-01-09T15:02:54+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**Ben’s Vietnam solo cycle tour raises thousands for Glasgow kids**

Save the Children youth participation worker, Ben Williams has arrived back safely
today from his month long solo cycling tour of Vietnam and raised over £5k for the
charity’s YES (Young East End Speaking) project in Glasgow’s East End.

21-year-old Ben, who has funded the trip himself, left for Vietnam on 7th Dec and
cycled almost 1800km from Hanoi, forgoing his Christmas dinner on the 25th to complete
his trip to Ho Chi Minh City.

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All of the money raised will go directly back to the YES project, a network of 12
youth groups that tackle poverty and create opportunities for young people. YES 
challenges racism and sectarianism, brings together young people from rival gangs
and gives children a voice, allowing them to have a say in their own lives and communities.

During his tour, Ben visited the Vietnamese Save the Children programme in Hanoi
as well experiencing the memorable privilege of Vietnamese hospitality when he was
taken in by a local family when faced with no bed for the night.

Ben’s total is still rising and he hopes to raise not just a substantial amount 
of money for the YES project, but also to raise awareness of the work being carried
out and the true extent of youth poverty in Glasgow.

Ben said, “I have no doubt that the money raised will change the lives of young 
people in Glasgow’s East End and hopefully the trip will also inspire some of them
to head off on their own life changing experience.”

He added that the highlights of the trip were:

Being taken in by the family when I had nowhere to go. They had not a word of English
between them and I’d gone to their door and signalled for a bed to see if they would
point to somewhere. Instead they took me in, fed me three meals, taught me Vietnamese
through a dictionary they had and the younger ones played games with me. They wouldn’t
take a penny for it. A very special experience.”

Susan Fisher, Assistant Scotland Programme Director for Save the Children, who oversees
the YES Project, added:

Ben is a valued member of our YES Project team, working hard to ensure young people’s
voices are heard and that they are able to contribute to making their communities
a better place to live. His commitment to the young people of the East End and to
the YES Project is inspiring and by taking on this challenge he has raised much 
needed funds for this work.”

ENDS

For more information, please contact:

Save the Children – Beverley Kirk, Media Officer (Scotland), 0131 527 8244 / 07764
560 940, b.****@*****************rg.uk

Notes to Editor:

About Save the Children

Save the Children fights for vulnerable children in the UK and around the World 
who suffer from poverty, disease, injustice and violence. Working with them to find
lifelong answers to the problems they face.

For more information about Save the Children, please visit the website: www.savethechildren.
org.uk

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