NOTICE: As I near Istanbul and the end of my journey, I have started to receive quite a lot of donations - thank you very much to all for your incredible support!
If you make a donation, don't forget - you can let me know by leaving a message on my website via this form, with an option to remain anonymous if you wish, or just send me a quick email at hannes.whittingham@gmail.com. I would love to know who to thank!

My name is Hannes, and I am taking my bike on a solo journey of 5,000km from my hometown of Cambridge, UK, to the ancient city of Constantinople in Turkey.

Beginning on 23rd August 2023, it will be a long, arduous, exhausting, painful, and wonderful journey of one man, one bike, and one overcomplicated camping hammock. I am doing it to try to raise $12,000 to support three causes.

Each cause is quite different, but they have one thing in common: they are chosen so as to do as much good as possible with the money, on the basis of strong evidence collected by Giving What We Can and other independent evaluators. No wishful thinking, corruption or administrative inefficiencies here; only real people and real help.

1. Helen Keller International’s Vitamin A Supplementation Program - Estimated impact of $4,000: prevent one child from suffering blindness followed by death due to vitamin A deficiency by providing crucial nutritional supplements.
2. Founders Pledge’s Climate Change Fund - Estimated impact of $4,000: prevent the emission of very (very) roughly 4,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, or about 10 lifetimes’ worth for a typical person living in the UK, by strategically supporting neglected but effective climate research and advocacy organisations.
3. StrongMinds - Estimated impact of $4,000: prevent roughly 15 years of severe depression in women living in sub-Saharan Africa by providing cheap and effective interpersonal group therapy, proven in randomised controlled trials.

I believe these things are worth doing.

With my own donation, I will be supporting each of the above equally. However, if one speaks to you more than the others, you can choose your own weighting using the ‘Edit Allocation’ button after clicking ‘Donate’.

There’s a lot more information about my journey, the causes, and why I have chosen them on my website at www.from-england-to-istanbul.co.uk. If you choose to support me, please visit the site to let me know and optionally post a message! It means a lot to me personally to have your support, and creates a buzz that encourages others to help too. Plus, I want to be able to say thank you!

Wish me luck!

Warmly,

Hannes