Brett Cownley, Elenora and Frank Lubbe started riding for #TeamLittleEden in the Telkom 947 Cycle Challenge three years ago because of their long-standing friendship with Marie-Victoire Cumming who is a LITTLE EDEN music therapist. Brett and Marie-Victoire Cumming’s brother were in the same class at school in Zimbabwe before both the Cumming and Cownley families moved to South Africa and had limited contact with each other due to the move.

Brett and Elenora (brother and sister) have been living in Edenvale since 1981 where Elenora currently works in the hospitality industry and Brett is a real estate agent. Frank, a student in business management, is Elenora’s son.

Marie, Brett and Elenora reunited after Brett and Elenora started cycling for recreational purposes seven years ago. Elenora challenged Frank to join them on the cycle challenge because she believes, “you will never know what you can do before you challenge yourself.”

Brett and Elenora say they knew about LITTLE EDEN long before they started cycling for the Society. Brett recalls his first visit to LITTLE EDEN, where he met the Angels, was during his senior Primary School years at St Benedict’s College, while Elenora says she always supported the LITTLE EDEN Second-hand Shop with donations as well as purchases. She also collected paper for recycling during the time LITTLE EDEN was still involved in paper recycling as part of its fundraising initiative.

These three cyclists are passionate and believe in the value of the work carried out at LITTLE EDEN. “The residents teach you that everyone can do something within their capabilities. It is the love and support of many people that empower these Angels to #bemybest,” says Elenora.

She feels not enough is done to promote the cause and needs of people with profound intellectual disabilities, especially at an event such as the Telkom 947 Cycle Challenge.

Elenora does not only aim to promote the cause and plight of the intellectually disabled, but also LITTLE EDEN as a charity of preference to donate to. “Donating to LITTLE EDEN is appealing because it is made easy through LITTLE EDEN’s website and donating systems that are in place.  This superb system is transparent and donors are getting their much needed tax certificates and thank you letters timeously.”

The three say they are slowly but surely getting ready for the cycle challenge by, amongst other things, doing regular spinning classes at gym. They are excited about this year’s race and plan to cycle together and not as the previous years where Brett finished first of the trio.

* This year LITTLE EDEN registered a crowd funding campaign through givengain called #Pillows4Angels #SoundSleep to give everyone an opportunity chance to assist riders like Brett, Elenora and Frank to raise funds towards purchasing 306 specialised pillows for LITTLE EDEN Angels.

Visit https://www.givengain.com/cause/11242/campaigns/18703 to contribute to this cause which will provide comfort and contentment to children and adults with profound intellectual disability.