I thought I should give you all a little update on how we are doing with BSC’s Japan Earthquake & Tsunami Appeal. Oh, I should probably introduce myself first; my name is Oliver (Oli) and I work for British Study Centres in Marketing.

I was actually due to fly to Japan only three days after the Land of the Rising Sun was struck by an earthquake and tsunami. Of course, the trip was clearly no longer possible and we decided to see what we could do in terms of practical help and so started BSC’s Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Appeal.

All four schools got involved straight away with some fantastic ideas, so a few of us decided it was definitely our turn and last Sunday we brought our bikes into the game for a 41 mile charity cycle ride. When I say a few I actually mean 3 people from BSC; Andrew Roper, our Managing Director, Roland Sharp, the School Director in Bournemouth, and me.

We started on Sunday morning at 9am at the Bournemouth Promenade close to the Oceanarium. It was a beautifully sunny, if slightly windy, morning as we rode along the promenade towards Sandbanks. It got very chilly while cycling at 45 miles per hour wearing just our cycling jerseys, so we put our jackets on and kept going. We had to take a ferry a short distance at one point, which was the only time we cheated, but to be fair we couldn’t have cycled across the water!

For the next 10 miles our route became very hilly and we honestly struggled a bit and definitely warmed up. We quickly stopped again to get rid of our jackets and display our colourful BSC jerseys to the public.

After the hills we needed a little rest so we stopped for a 15 minute break in Swanage. We had tea and a flapjack . Some sugar is good for the boys. For the next 20 miles we rushed onwards, passing Corfe Castle, Northport and Sandford. We pushed ourselves quite a bit, especially me with my not so happy knee. I would pay for this later in the day, but you can’t let yourself fall behind when your team is so enthusiastic about something.

We had another 5 minute break at a rusty old petrol station where I couldn’t even find an outside rubbish bin and then we stretched our legs and lower backs and went on to cycle the last 10 miles towards Pool.

At this point the sun was well and truly up and we started to get a bit tired, but we still had fun and spurred each other on. We lined up for the final strait and cycled in a row over the imaginary finish line in front of the Bournemouth school at around 12.30. And, although my knee was definitely feeling the worse for wear, we were all very happy to have done what we could to help the appeal. We are happy to announce that with our cycle ride we have raised about £400 for the Japanese cause.

A massive thank you to all of you who have given and supported us!