Palapye — Morupule Cycling Club (MCC) members have been applauded for their dedication to grow the annual charity cycling into a popular spectacle.
Speaking at the 12th CEO's Annual Charity Cycle Challenge in Palapye on Sunday, Morupule Coal Mine (MCM) chief executive office, Edwin Elias said the club had grown to include even non-employees of the mine.
He said the club was formed in 2012 to promote cycling and engage employees by the then general manager, the late Albert Milton.
"Other objectives included encouraging physical fitness and vitality amongst the workforce for improved health thus better quality of life," he said.
Elias said in 2018 when MCM adopted Palapye Junior Secondary School, MCC and partners came on board to support the initiative by leading the refurbishment of the school's library, a noble gesture which contributed to achievements of the programme which saw the school's pass rate improve from 45 per cent to 51 per cent in the three years MCM had adopted the school.
He said proceeds from last year's MCC's annual charity event were used to construct a P500 000 outdoor gym which was donated to the Palapye community three months back.
He said the ambition behind the project was to encourage good physical fitness within the Palapye in order to manage the surge of non-communicable diseases.
He thanked the cyclists for their dedication to the sport and always showing up for the MCC's annual cycle challenge.
"Your support is felt beyond MCM and MCC as the local business community is benefiting from the economic activities of this weekend through hospitality, catering, and transportation," he said.
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The Head of Client Coverage, Corporate and Investment Banking at Stanbic Bank Botswana Rebone Diloro said the event was not only a great platform for networking and building relationships but for creating positive community impact in Botswana.
He thanked MCC for continuing to host and making the cycle challenge better each year.
He said since non-communicable diseases were on the rise, and continuing to claim lives, engaging in different forms of physical exercise such as the CEO's Annual Charity Cycle Challenge was a good preventative measure.
As a platinum sponsor, Stanbic Bank sponsored the event with over P300 000.
Other sponsors were Komatsu with over P180 000 and BR BB Mining with P150 000.
BOPA
