Here are few of the riders the LCEF has helped so far this year and their stories…
Richard “Ricardo” Bartrum – Addison Lee
“I was recently injured as a result of a collision with a black cab. On attending A&E, I was told that I had a fractured clavicle ( this being the third time that I have sustained this injury) & that I shouldn’t get back on my bike for six weeks.
After three weeks off work, I knew that I would soon have no funds in my bank account.
I have been aware of the LCEF pretty much as soon as they formed. Being a veteran London courier, I had noticed various fellow riders wearing caps with the Fund’s logo. I applied to join the LCEF FaceBook Group only a couple of years ago, it was here that I learned of the extent of their good works. Postings, events, comments, fundraisers; everything our ever-growing community require to sustain solidarity, the evidence was there. At the few events that I have attended the aforementioned qualities are celebrated directly.
I contacted the LCEF. Within a few days, a LCEF volunteer had visited my control room manager to vouchsafe my claim.
The following day I received a payment from the LCEF.
This payment, has enabled me to rest assured that I can recuperate sufficiently & not have to return to work prematurely.
I am also grateful for the moral support that the fund has extended to me during my convalescence.”
John “Overdrive” O’Driscoll – GoldStar
“I think I’ve had two or three payouts from the LCEF now.The last one was quite recent after I was knocked off by a passenger getting out of a black cab,he opened the door on me which broke my collar bone.I was given £300 which helped me enormously whilst I took time off work to recover.
It isn’t just the financial aid the LCEF offers to injured bike couriers that’s important but the fact that the sense of companionship that exists among bike couriers has a constructive support system that is borne of the community.
The LCEF supports and sponsors many courier related events throughout the year both here in London and abroad. We are lucky to have it and long may the Fund continue.”
Hugh Cole – Reuters
“Most days, i think we are the lucky ones. Not bound to the confines of an office and made to stare blankly at a computer screen in a vague attempt to look busy for 8 or 9 hours before being allowed to go home again. No, i really think we are the lucky ones. We get pay to ride bicycles, what could be better?
Go there, get that, take it there and get that along the way to take somewhere else, all on double rush…… keR-ching!
But some days it can all go horribly wrong as I well found out at the end of January.
I was stopped at a junction on Bishopsgate, not in much of a hurry because I could see the door of the post room i was heading for, I was caught unaware and t-boned by a taxi. In the brief moment before the impact (the bit that goes slow-motion) I knew I was in for it, and i knew it was going to hurt and so it did.
My thigh took the impact which in turn flipped me onto the bonnet, spewing my bike across the junction and bouncing me back into the road.
I don’t remember much of what happened next, I remember the policeman asking me to get out of the road because concern for my bike hadn’t taken me as far as the pavement, and I remember the taxi driver apologizing profusely and waving a £20 note from the fare he had had just leave his cab.
He got his tip, I got a dead leg the size of Nebraska and a broken shoulder.
That said, and in credit to the cabbie, he drove me home and insisted we stop at Brixton cycles on the way to at least “pay for the wheel” as he so kindly put it. But that didn’t really help me in so far as how I was going to support myself for the next 11 weeks while my arm grew back, so I contacted Steph at the LCEF to see what could be done.
And here is where i owe the biggest thanks of all, to Steph and to the LCEF, because after zero fuss and not much more than a day I was a fair bit richer than I had been on Wednesday.
The LCEF had come to the rescue, and really helped me out of a tight spot of post xmas just been run-over skintness and helped me keep afloat while I re-gathered my forces, grew a new arm and watched some of the most scintillating day time tv that I didn’t know I had been missing all this time.
So, to the LCEF, all i can say is thank you. I’m really indebted to you for your support.”
The Sister City Alleycat series is now over and we have raised £300 for CMWC 2014 Mexico. A dozen other cities all over the globe have also participated and the total raised was around $4000 (about £2,300) so well done to everyone.
Much artwork was produced for those races to promoted them. So we gathered most of these great designs and put them together.
Posters are on sale for £10 (postage included) and all proceeds will also go to CMWC 2014 Mexico so if you got a wall space that needs brightening up, get in touch: londoncourieremergencyfund@gmail.com.
Talking of Mexico, i will be on my way to Mexico City next Friday with some LCEF merchandise as well as some limited edition t-shirts created especially for the event by Xander Mac from the House of Pistard.
Tees will be on sale from this Friday, come at the Pakenham Arms, Pakenham St WC1 for a track standing darts special or drop me a line.
T-shirts will be available in black and dark grey with a gold print.
