Riders for Health

History

The movement that would become Riders for Health started in the motorcycle community when a group of people working in the grand prix paddock began general fundraising for children in difficulties in developing countries.

During several trips to Africa in the late 1980s to see the fruits of this fundraising, Barry and Andrea Coleman and GP racer Randy Mamola noticed that vehicles intended for use in the delivery of health care were not being used because they had broken down. They saw vehicles piled up at clinics that had stopped working for want of a $3 part, but no one knew what to do with them. One of the nurses that they met at the clinic told them that because people lived in villages so far apart, she could never reach them with health care.

For people who had worked around engines all their lives, this made no sense. They knew that for a vehicle to run properly, and for the lifespan the manufacturer intended, it must be serviced correctly, especially when being used in hostile environments like rural Africa. They also knew that transport affects everything and that without effective transportation development in Africa will be impossible.

Randy returned to his racing career but with a new focus. Barry began working with established agencies to develop new systems for managing vehicles in difficult or hostile conditions and Andrea began building world-wide support in the motorcycling community and elsewhere for a new initiative in Africa. The initiatvie was enthusiastically supported by the motorcycle community worldwide.  At events like Day of Champions, at the British Grand Prix, or by running helmet-parking buses at events in the UK, Riders has been able to raise funds to support its programmes in Africa.

In 1996 Riders for Health was registered as an independent NGO in the UK and the expert systems they developed for managing vehicles in difficult conditions are now used effectively across Africa.

Riders now has programmes in the Gambia, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Kenya and Tanzania, and we will be starting new programmes in Lesotho (January 2008) and Mozambique (Spring 2008).

The timeline below charts the main developments in the Riders for Health story.

Click here for details of our awards and other achievements.

• 1986 - 1996 Andrea Coleman, Barry Coleman and Randy Mamola, supported by Jeanette Wragg and a large number of volunteers, raise money in motorcycle sport for Save the Children Fund.
• 1988 Barry Coleman and Randy Mamola see motorcycles intended for use by the ministry of health in Mogadishu, Somalia, terminally damaged after very short operational lives.
• 1989 Barry Coleman, acting as consultant to SCF and WHO, examines motorcycle use/maintenance arrangements in the Gambia and the basis of a new training/management system is laid down.
• 1990 Andrea Coleman organises the first Day of Champions at Brands Hatch, which has now grown into an annual event attached to MotoGP now held at Donington Park (the motorcycle racing equivalent of Formula 1).
• 1990 Riders carries out large-scale testing of training techniques in Uganda.
• 1991  Riders opens its first national programme, managed by Mohale Moshoeshoe, in Lesotho.
• 1994 First large-scale national programme begins in Zimbabwe.
• 1996 Riders for Health registered as an independent charity in the UK focusing its attention solely on managing transport for outreach in rural Africa.
• 1997 HRH Princess Royal becomes Riders' patron. Beginning of revolutionary 'transport resource management' programme in Zimbabwe.
• 1999 Nigeria logistics programme begins. Fundraising begins in Holland.
• 2000 Congo logistics begins. Riders USA incorporated. First Day of Champions in Valencia, Spain. Riders recieves UK National Lottery funding for building academy of transport management in Zimbabwe.
• 2001 New programme of work begins in the Gambia with the government outsourcing its transport management to Riders.
• 2002 BBC Lifeline Appeal. International Academy of Vehicle Management (IAVM) opens in Zimbabwe. Ducati commit one dollar to Riders for every motorcycle sold.
• 2003 Contract renewed for management of WHO polio eradication fleet in Nigeria. Honda donate 75 motorcycles for use in Zimbabwe. First Uhuru is manufactured in Zimbabwe.
• 2004 Launch of Motos Solidarias (Spanish branch of Riders) and Riders Germany. Riders win tender to manage UN workshops/vehicles in Nigeria. Nuffield Foundation agrees to fund aspects of the IAVM. First Uhuru exported from Zimbabwe. Riders requested to manage transport element of programme for AID Village Clinics, Kenya. Andrea and Barry Coleman are invited to join the elite Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship. Riders launches campaign to 'get Africa on the road' with an exhibition at the House of Commons.
• 2005 Riders is featured in a global health campaign to concentrate the world's attention on global health issues. The campaign is launched in New York between 1st and 3rd November and is heralded as an unprecedented media event. Andrea and Barry Coleman are named 'Heroes of Global Health' by Time magazine.
• 2006 Riders again attends the World Economic Forum in Davos. Riders is featured in a CNN documentary by Christiane Amanpour. To celebrate Riders' 10th anniversary we hold the first ever 'Riders Week': five days of celebrations and fundraising. The week is opened with a special afternoon tea attended by Riders patron, HRH The Princess Royal. Riders feature in BBC Lifeline appeal presented by Suzi Perry.
• 2007 Riders is one of three charities supported by Charley Boorman and Ewan McGregor through their TV bike adventure, Long Way Down. Riders holds the first Riders for Health Day at the US GP at Laguna Seca.

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