Rhodes University students Dave Scott, Justin Anderson and Angus McNaughton are cycling fanatics who have decided to use their bicycling enthusiasm for a charitable cause.
Rhodes University students Dave Scott, Justin Anderson and Angus McNaughton are cycling fanatics who have decided to use their bicycling enthusiasm for a charitable cause.
They started The Naked Trail to raise awareness about the underprivileged and use social media platforms and word-of-mouth to encourage people to donate spare clothing and spread their news.
The Naked Trail’s support-base consists mainly of university students, which makes a monetary-donation system problematic seeing as students don’t always have tonnes of cash to spare.
The brains-trust at The Naked Trail was ingenious enough to rather drive for second-hand clothes. So far over 300 items have been collected, but The Naked Trail guys aren't satisfied.
Their final drive for clothes takes place today, 24 October, at their residence, with the entrance fee to the soiree requiring party-guest to simply donate an item of clothing to the group.
The soiree is an opportunity for the group to say thank you and farewell to their supporters, seeing as the triad will be gone at least a month. The three students decided that they would embark on a 1 500km trail from Lesotho Caledonspoort Border Post on the northern boundary.
They will have to exit through the south western border at Van Rooyens Gate before they can make their way down to Cape Town via South Africa’s scenic roads.
However, 1 500 km of sitting on your behind is painful enough, but imagine the discomfort of having to ride along South Africa’s toughest gravel roads.
The route is unconventional, taking them along the inland roads of the Southern Cape.
Once the group returns to the Eastern Cape, they will visit various township schools to donate some items towards helping the children set up mini-stores, with the little ones as the owners so that they gain an insight into business.
Their Facebook group wittily quips about how a great many people might think that “there’s that one item … sitting there, in the cupboard”.
This is The Naked Trail's way of encouraging people to hand over that arbitrary item of clothing to someone less privileged.
