Thank you for taking the time to visit our fundraising page.

Winch Design is taking part in the London to Monaco Cycle Ride 18 – 27 September 2016 and raising money for the Blue Marine Foundation.

The Blue Marine Foundation (BLUE) is working to solve the crisis of overfishing by creating marine reserves –parts of the ocean that are protected so that fish and biodiversity can recover.

Over-fishing represents a major food security issue and has devastating consequences for the fragile biodiversity of our planet. Around 90% of global fish stocks are fully or over-exploited and around 90% of large fish are gone. The consequences are far-reaching, not only for the future of food for a growing global population, but because healthy oceans absorb half the CO2 we produce.

BLUE’s aim is to put 10% of the world’s oceans under protection by 2020 and 30% by 2030.

Funds raised from the event will go towards two projects that will contribute significantly to ocean protection:

The beautiful Aeolian Islands to the north of Sicily are being threatened by overfishing and irresponsible tourism.

Funds raised from the cycle ride will go towards projects which will:

• Build eco-moorings for sailing vessels so they don’t damage the sea grass beds when they anchor;
• Monitor and protect endangered marine species such as sperm whales and dolphins;
• Enhance fish reproduction through site-specific protection/zoning;
• Reduce the number of ‘ghost’ nets (discarded nets which trap species such as loggerhead turtles).

The remote island of Ascension in the tropical Atlantic is home to some of the biggest fish in the world, sharks, turtles and rare sea birds, but was being plundered by long-line fishing. The UK government has just
declared half Ascension’s waters protected from fishing, but the Ascension islanders rely on income from fishing licences. 

Funds raised from the cycle ride will support BLUE’s work to open up other sources of income on the island, particularly science and eco-tourism so that 100% of the island’s waters (nearly twice the size of the UK) can become a marine protected area.

Thank you so much for your support.