THE CYCLE FRONTIER

How does the thought of cycling over 100 miles in the middle of a pandemic, in highly changeable British weather make you feel? Exhilarated? Inspired? A little nauseous? Or a mix of all three? Well, our very own Rhiannon Mosson and her partner Chonai Mbirimi did just that to raise vital funds for the Fiorentini Foundation in a year that was enough of a challenge as it is.

The Anna Fiorentini Theatre & Film School and its charitable arm – The Fiorentini Foundation, whose sole purpose is to enable less fortunate children to access the world of the performing arts, was hit cataclysmically by the pandemic. Even though the school could not keep trading as usual, their overheads remained the same and all planned fundraising events had to be cancelled. This sadly meant that support was and, is still not, available for disadvantaged children. Making the need for fundraising critical.

Rhiannon has not only worked for the company for 12 years but has helped it to flourish and has also headed up the theatrical agency. She saw the company’s crisis first-hand and knew she had to do something.

For those of you that know Rhiannon, she is a fiercely strong female so when we heard she was planning to cycle 20 miles, five times and convince her partner to join her, we were very impressed but not surprised!

Rhiannon and her partner schlepped out in all weathers to train, they donned their macs, were soaked to the skin and got sunburnt in the heatwave as they pummelled the streets of London on their bikes to raise money for the Foundation.

Rhiannon said about her challenge: We have seen first-hand the impact that the performing arts can have on young people; instilling confidence, self-esteem and life skills to ensure they can reach their full potential.

This should be accessible to all young people, regardless of their financial or social background and by raising funds we can support scholarships for those who would not otherwise be able to access the performing arts.

At time of writing, Rhi and Chonai have raised a whopping 66% of their £1000 target; we are so grateful to them both for their efforts and we would love to see them reach their goal. If you would like to support them and donate, please visit: shorturl.at/crNW3 and pledge whatever you can to help them hit their target.

Do you fancy taking on a challenge of your own? To celebrate 20 years of the Anna Fiorentini Theatre and Film School, we have organised a 20:20 fundraiser! This all revolves around the number 20, meaning you could do 20 minutes of dance, 20 days with no chocolate, 20 press ups in 20 seconds, 20 people collectively doing a 20k run or swim, performing 20 songs, let your imaginations run wild with this, as long as it involves 20 of something! Just click the Fundraise for Us or click Create a Team if you fancy getting your friends and family involved too.

Thank you to Rhiannon and Chonai for your outstanding efforts in helping The Fiorentini Foundation get back on its feet and raise vital funds for disadvantaged children and give them much-needed inspiration from the performing arts.

If you would like to make a donation to Rhiannon’s bike ride please visit: https://bit.ly/361FM1W