Support our amazing Ride London cycling team!
Thursday, May 4th, 2023
They’re back! The SpecialEffect Riders team are returning for this years’ Ride London, a 100-mile cycle challenge that winds through London and Essex.
Our friend and Ambassador Ian Camm will again be leading our intrepid team of riders as they head out from London into the countryside and back into the capital for a storming finish at the iconic Tower Bridge. Ian is the father of our Trustee Rob Camm, who we’ve worked with for over a decade.
Rob was 19 when an accident left him paralysed from the neck down and dependent on a ventilator to breathe.
“What do you say to your 19-year-old son… when he’s already spent 70 days lying on his back, only able to gaze at the ceiling tiles?” Said Ian. “Well, one of the things you can say is that ‘Mick and Hannah from SpecialEffect are coming in today.’”
Mick Donegan, the Founder and CEO of SpecialEffect, and his StarGaze Project team spent many days in ICU with Rob introducing and supporting his use of an eye controlled computer that gave him a degree of independence for communication and leisure. Since then, along with the rehabilitation provided by our fantastic NHS, our team have helped Rob to further his independence and forge a pathway through university to a successful legal career.
Outside of work, Rob’s technology and with some “I can do it” determination has seen him reach the summit of mountains (Pen y Fan and Snowdon), take on a Tough Mudder in a powered wheelchair and go to the Houses of Parliament to receive a Special Recognition Award from Premiership Rugby for his wheelchair rugby coaching at Bristol Bears.
The RideLondon 100 began in 2013 as an Olympic legacy event from the 2012 London Games, and its 100-mile route twists out from the heart of capital into Essex before returning to the finish at Tower Bridge.
You can donate to the team and follow their training story here.