The FireFlies Antipodes is embarking on it’s third tour from 17th to 24th February 2019. The ride covers 1000km+ over seven gruelling days around the South Island of New Zealand. Riders are dedicated to raising awareness and fundraising in the media world in aid of Beating Blood Cancers and Leukaemia.
Riding with the spirit and motto ‘For Those Who Suffer, We Ride’ the tour aims to raise AUD$50,000 for The Snowdome Foundation and their own fight against Blood Cancers.
The FireFlies Tour was established in London in 2001 by advertising executive Sandy Watson Scott, Chair, in recognition of relatives and friends’ battles with Cancer. Each year The FireFlies cycle 1,000km+ across the French Alps from Lake Geneva to Cannes and arrive during the Cannes Lions Advertising Festival.
Thanks to international media sponsors, The FireFlies have to date raised in excess of AUD$3 million to benefit the Hammersmith Hospital London, a world renowned leader in research and treatment of Leukaemia and other Blood Cancers. In 2007, FireFlies WEST was created, riding annually from San Francisco to Los Angeles raising money for the City of Hope Hospital in Southern California.
After completing The FireFlies Tour in 2013, Wilf Sweetland, CEO and Partner of The Sweet Shop, establised the tour in Australia and New Zealand with riders completing the inaugural tour from Christchurch to Queenstown in February 2015, in 2017 The FireFlies Antipodes rode 1000km around Tasmania.
Wilf Sweetland, “The ride is both physically and emotionally punishing. You’ve got to want to do it, have the strength to do it and you’ve got to have the heart to do it. The courage it takes to face blood cancer is unthinkable, and I can say from experience, there’s no greater motivator when you’re climbing those peaks. The support, community and friendships we’ve now grown around this event are extraordinary too.
“We are honoured to once again be raising money for The Snowdome Foundation. They’re ‘unlocking new treatments’ into early phase human clinical trials of next generation drugs and therapies and making hope real for the 11,500 Australians diagnosed every year with Blood Cancers.”
