ABOUT THE RIDE

GENEVA TO CANNES FOR LEUKA

Each year the Fireflies riders traverse 1000 km across the French Alps from Geneva to Cannes raising money for Leuka. This year the ride will run from the 16th of June to the 24th of June, riding into the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival.

Nine years ago, the Fireflies first climbed aboard their bicycles and rode for Leuka, a charity established to support a research and treatment unit for leukaemia led by Professor Goldman at Hammersmith Hospital.

The route follows many of the same epic alpine ascents as Le Tour de France, recognised as one of the most arduous cycling journey’s in the world, including the famous Galibier & L’Alp d’Huez!

Bearing in mind that the mountains the Fireflies will be traversing have come to embody the ultimate toughness and harshness of the Tour de France, they have adopted the motto “For those who suffer we ride”

Why the name?

Initiated in 2000, the Fireflies gained their name during the first year, after a procession of glowing fireflies led the riders down a steep mountain in the pitch black. This same night-time ride will be completed again this year.

How much have we raised?

In the last 9 years we have raised over £700,000 pounds for Leuka. The money raised through Leuka so far has contributed towards salaries for 11 Leukaemia scientists and laboratory workers and in the last two years has enabled purchase of the following equipment:

Continuous flow blood cell separator: Used to collect leukaemia cells and normal stem cells from circulating blood of patients with leukaemia and from donors for transplantation.

luorescence activated cell sorter: Measures the numbers of cells with a wide variety of different proteins on their surface, some patterns being unique to leukaemia cells.

Cell counter for the Catherine Lewis Centre: A standard apparatus that counts white cells and platelets (colourless sticky bodies present in blood which along with other substances form blood clots) in the blood of patients undergoing treatment.

10 Isolation hoods: Special booths needed to prevent the contamination of cells in a lab environment.

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