A cycle tour for 32,260 euros

For more than 20 years, students from the ESB Business School at Reutlingen University have organised a cycle tour lasting roughly two weeks, in order to raise funds for charity. Once again this year, the students from ESB Cycling for Charity hit the road. Starting from Reutlingen Campus, they headed off in mid-April for Volonne in the south of France. Last Saturday, the team handed over the proceeds of 32,260 euros in equal shares to the children’s cancer charity Förderverein für krebskranken Kinder Tübingen e.V. and to Reutlingen’s own initiative Integramus e.V.

“Young and successful people above all can send an important message through their involvement with organisations like our charity,” said Horst Simschek, deputy chair of the Förderverein, in thanks. He praised the students for their voluntary effort and their self-sacrifice. The ESB Cycling for Charity team prepares for the fundraising cycle tour completely independently over months. Planning the route and logistics are as much a part of the programme as intensive athletic preparation and attracting sponsors. Traditionally, the students also use the preparatory period to get to know more about the charitable projects themselves. For tour participant Lucas Osterauer this deeper insight and the longstanding mutual association with the recipients of the donations is what makes it special – only exceeded by the sense of community and the physical experience of the tour.

Horst Simschek hit the nail on the head when he said that the students “combine the useful with the beautiful” through ESB Cycling for Charity. Along with good food and wonderful landscapes, the cyclists from the ESB Business School above all experienced the hospitality and warmth of the communities where they paused for breaks. They were warmly welcomed by the general public and sometimes even by mayors or their deputies, and treated to regional delicacies. “We were delighted to see how much attention and interest we received on our way through France,” recounts tour participant Lorena Klink.

For Luba Maier, second chair of Reutlingen’s association Integramus e.V., the presentation of the cheques for the donations from ESB Cycling for Charity is a special event every year. She was delighted to see the students return from the tour safe and well. Maier describes her association as “a small family enterprise”, which does not receive a lot of donations, especially these days. The financial support from ESB Cycling for Charity means that ongoing projects in Africa, Eastern Europe and Germany can be maintained.

The plan is for the fundraising cycle tour to continue in the coming calendar year – the new team and the longstanding recipients of the donations are already raring to go. The destination for ESB Cycling for Charity 2025 will be announced at the start of the next year.