12 million euros

Serious Request is one of the most popular fundraising events in the Netherlands, raising about 12 million euros a year in its heyday. Prompted by the relatively low takings of 2015 (only 7,6 million euros, the lowest turnover in years), the students thought they needed to find a new incentive to inspire people to donate.

Van der Geest, Broodman and Van de Langkruis brainstormed about the different ways they could revive interest in the event. ‘At first we thought about hiking to each of the ten cities to have hosted the Glass House,’ Van der Geest explains. Such a long walk, however, would take too much time. Cycling would be faster.

None of the fundraisers have any experience cycling long distance and plan to ride two hundred kilometres as their first day of training. After all, they have a lot of money to raise — their ambition is to make a total of 2,000 euros, only 200 of which has already been donated. The students and their professor are using Facebook to raise awareness and funds. Van der Geest’s parents are helping by selling lottery tickets in the shopping mall of Gorinchem, a provincial town near Rotterdam.

Christmas

The cyclists-to-be still have about nine weeks in which to get into shape and raise the funds. They will start their tour on Wednesday 21 December in Heerlen in the south of the Netherlands and finish in Breda (the host city) on Saturday 24.

‘We’ll certainly be suffering from considerable muscle ache this Christmas,’ Van der Geest predicts. ‘But if you want to raise money for charity you have to make an effort.’

To support the women you can visit their webpage. Follow them on Facebook or Instagram.