iPoint is very excited to announce that our founder Joerg Walden is sponsoring the “Ride For Freedom – German Bundesliga Cycling Tour 2022”, which iPoint’s cyclists will join along the way. From April 28 to May 15, two-time Cycling Guinness World Record holder and team leader of Ride For Freedom, Gordon Miller, will lead a cycling tour from Munich to Berlin between the 18 clubs in the German Bundesliga. The 2,500 km bike ride aims to raise awareness of modern slavery, specifically child trafficking in sports, and fundraise for Freewheel by Ride For Freedom that empowers survivors of modern slavery to cycle to support their mental and physical health.
There are more than 40 million children, women, and men worldwide trapped in some form of slavery on any given day, according to the Global Slavery Index. The Trafficking in Persons (TIP) 2020 Report notes that “within Europe’s soccer industry alone, it is estimated there are 15,000 human trafficking victims each year”. Gordon Miller explains: “Many of those trafficked in sport are youths. They are falsely lured to Europe by promises of the opportunity of trials with professional football clubs that will lead to untold riches. It’s an under-reported crime that needs a light shining on it.” To draw particular attention to child trafficking in sport, Gordon Miller already led a successful and acclaimed bike ride between all 20 English Premier League Football clubs, during the Euro 2020 tournament in 2021 – with iPoint as Germany country sponsor.
The “Ride For Freedom – German Bundesliga Cycling Tour 2022” will engage with the Bundesliga clubs, local sport and cycling clubs, corporates, NGOs, and sports bodies to educate and raise awareness of child trafficking within the communities. The planned tour departs from Munich and finishes in Berlin, visiting Stuttgart, Dortmund, Leipzig, and other Bundesliga cities. Cyclists, fans, and sponsors will support the tour and ride alongside Gordon Miller at various stages along the route. iPoint’s founder Joerg Walden and iPoint’s cycling enthusiasts will accompany Gordon Miller during the tour and will meet him in person in Stuttgart, which is close to iPoint’s headquarters in Reutlingen.
Ride For Freedom’s SDG 8.7-aligned mission is to harness the universal appeal of cycling to raise awareness, educate, and forge partnerships to end modern day slavery, and to provide remedy to survivors. “The Sustainable Development Goals, especially SDG 8 ‘Decent work and economic growth’, are a framework iPoint is also committed to promoting and advancing as a solutions provider, employer, corporate citizen, and signatory of UN Global Compact to accelerate the transition towards a sustainable future”, emphasizes Katie Boehme, Director People & Communications at iPoint and member of the UN Global Compact Germany Network’s steering committee. Target 8.7 of the SDGs specifically calls to “Take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking (by 2030) and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end child labour in all its forms.” Given the risk to corporations, in particular within certain sectors, of forced labor in their supply chains, and the genu¬ine concern many private sector actors have about such reali¬ties in their supply chains, iPoint commissioned an independent consultant to develop the electronic Labor Rights Template (eLRT), a free, open-access Excel-based data exchange stand¬ard designed to support companies in their compliance with global human trafficking and modern-day slavery legislation, which is also available via the iPoint SustainHub.
Learn more about iPoint’s sustainability commitment here.
Learn more about the “Ride For Freedom – German Bundesliga Cycling Tour 2022” here and check out the press kit here.
We look forward to the tour. Stay tuned for updates via our Social Media channels!
Press contact
- Contact in UK: Gordon Miller is available for interviews (only in English). Gordon@RideForFreedom.org.uk
- Contact in Germany: Dr. Katie Boehme, Director People & Communications, iPoint-systems gmbh circular(at)ipoint-systems.com
About Ride For Freedom
Ride For Freedom holds the SDG 8.7 aligned mission to harness the universal appeal of cycling to raise awareness, educate and forge partnerships to end modern slavery and provide remedy to survivors. Ride For Freedom achieves its mission by creating and leading unique cycling challenges and events and by partnering with high impact sports clubs, companies and aligned charities. Its vision is a world where no child, woman or man ever exists in modern slavery. Further information: www.RideForFreedom.org.uk