Our history, our vision
A long-term commitment to health and education – The Tour of Hope e.V. has been helping with donations in South-East Asia for 18 years.
Our interim results for 2024:
- 9 libraries supported
- 1,400 bicycles produced in Thailand
- 560,000 US dollars in donations
- 16 tours
- 400 participants from Asia, America and Europe
- 19,500
The idea came from Dr Hans Bock in 2006, who wanted to combine his passion for cycling with a charitable cause. As an employee of GlaxoSmithKline in Singapore, he quickly found like-minded colleagues and, in GSK, the main sponsor for the first few years. Against this backdrop, it was only natural to cycle in Southeast Asia and get involved in health prevention and education. Since then, a charity tour has taken place every year.
From 2006 to 2010, JHPIEGO (↪ jhpiego.org), a non-profit organisation of John Hopkins University, received significant support from the Tour of Hope. With funding from the Bill Gates Foundation, John Hopkins University has developed a method for the early detection and treatment of cervical cancer. Over the past five years, in close cooperation with the Thai Ministry of Health and Chulalongkorn University, more than 1,000 midwives and nurses have been trained in 24 provinces in Thailand, and the examination and treatment of over 600,000 women has been financed. This has saved the lives of countless Thai women.
An important concern of The Tour of Hope is visible and direct support. Since 2011, the association has been working closely with World Vision Thailand to finance educational projects and
- build school libraries in underprivileged regions, equipping them with furniture, books, learning materials and computers.
- finances bicycles for schools in rural areas so that children can get to school and receive an education,
The libraries are inaugurated and the bicycles handed over in person on site. This allows the participants of the Tour of Hope to see for themselves how the donations they have collected are being used. During follow-up visits to the schools that received support, they were able to see that the libraries are in good condition, well maintained and used intensively.
The Tour of Hope has now financed nine school libraries and distributed more than 1,400 bicycles produced in Thailand. The achievements of the 16 tours to date are impressive:
400 participants from Asia, America and Europe have cycled more than 19,500 km and collected over 560,000 US dollars in donations.
Well-known Thai and international companies are among the sponsors of The Tour of Hope, and more are joining every year. Many donations come from the participants’ friends and acquaintances.