On April 30th 2017, the Champagne and Oyster Cycling Club (C.O.C.C.) will host its 6th annual charity bike ride in aid of the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation.

Sonia Irvine, Founder of Amber Lounge and Monaco resident, is excited to be taking part once again in the bike ride, which helps to raise funds for the development and growth of the awareness program on water safety, the risks of drowning and to help children learn to swim.

Not only that, but as Amber Lounge places a great deal of emphasis on charitable fundraising within the context of its business activities, it will also be one of the main sponsors.

Over the last five years around 500 riders of the C.O.C.C. of Monaco have taken part in the charity bike ride from St Tropez to Monaco, covering 140kms. The funds raised from this event have been donated to Princess Charlene of Monaco’s Foundation.

A frightening statistic is that drowning represents the 3rd leading cause of unintentional injury or death worldwide accounting for 7% of all injury related deaths. Although there are an estimated 372,000 annual drowning deaths across all countries, global estimates may significantly underestimate the actual public health problem related to this serious issue.

In general, children under 5 years of age have the highest drowning mortality rates in the world and as the Princess is a former Olympian and South African swimming champion this cause is very close to her heart. Her Foundation already launched various programs on water safety, which have now kicked off in Monaco, France, South Africa, Morocco, as well as the USA.

Following the bike ride, the Riviera Water Bike Challenge, a premier world sporting event, will take place on June 4th this year. With the common goal of raising funds to create a new Aquatic Rescue Centre for Burkina Faso, which Princess Charlene of Monaco’s Foundation also supports, participants will ride 21kms between Nice and Monaco on Schiller S1 water bikes.

If you wish to support the foundation, and donate, visit https://coccmonaco.com/donate/

If you would like to join Sonia on the bike ride, visit https://coccmonaco.com/apply/