Ride for Ceylon 2023 kicks off in Arugam Bay

The seventh annual tour to Jaffna, Ride for Ceylon kicked off its 2023 campaign with more than 50 riders joining this year’s charity bike ride. Ride for Ceylon is a four-day 475 km bike ride from March 1 to March 4, starting with a new route this year from Arugam Bay, the South-eastern edge of Sri Lanka and finishing in Manipay, Jaffna.   

Cyclists from around the world arrived in Sri Lanka to bike hundreds of kilometres in support of the Green Memorial Hospital in Jaffna. Each rider earns funds for the hospital’s development through sponsorships and donations.   

This year the ride will also be represented by an eleven-man team from City Tatts Club in Sydney, Australia, headed by City Tatt’s Director and R4C Ride Captain Kumar Kalyanakumar, and CT’s CEO Marcelo Veloz. “I missed the ride for the last couple of years, but this year I’m very excited to ride along the eastern coast. I want to congratulate all the riders for training really hard and raising the funds. It will be useful for getting an X-ray machine for the hospital,” Kumar said.   

The fundraising arm of the UK-based non-profit organization, Friends of Manipay Hospital, R4C was initiated by the Arnold brothers, Prof. Jayantha and Anandan, whose wish was to refurbish and reaffirm the hospital’s basic mission of community service. Organizers said that the event has now been sanctioned by the Ministry of Tourism as a tourism promotion event for Sri Lanka under its Visit Sri Lanka programme.