Hi From Team Vivendi
While the onset of winter may mean cold temperatures and rain, here at Vivendi we’re feeling on top of the world. Why? Because we’re still on cloud nine from a very successful trip to Monaco in aid of Caudwell Children.
If you follow us on our socials then you’ll no doubt know all about the Cycling with Champions event as well as the Butterfly Ball. Last year, in 2020 during the pandemic, we supported Caudwell Children on their 5th annual Cycle Monte Carlo event by designing and manufacturing the kit for the race. This year however, we decided to go one step further with two of our very own Team Members completing the race themselves as well the rest of our team acting as support staff for both the 85km race and 30km race.
Elizabeth Davies completed a masterful move, creating perhaps the most beautiful cycling kit the race has ever seen, (which is available to purchase right now with just a handful of kits left) and set to work having it manufactured in time for the event itself. As you can see from the images, her efforts were not in vain and the kit was one that will be remembered for a long time.
Mark Waters and Jennifer Hyde both carried out at-home training, with Mark absolutely obliterating a seriously hardcore training regime that often left him with some pretty harsh DOMs. Luckily, having a compression wear brand to hand made his recovery a million times easier.
While Jen initially felt the competitive edge, her distinct lack of lung capacity on the day was evidence enough that her training was in fact spent leisurely on the indoor bike in front of Youtube equestrian vlogs as opposed to thrashing out her Strava best to compete with Mark.
Despite this, on the day, both were super enthusiastic and set off into the busy Monaco traffic, tackling super steep hills and even at one point, a flat tyre.
The support team members, Emma Davies, Emma Waters and of course Elizabeth worked just as hard, with Elizabeth actually coming to Mark and Jen’s rescue and showing them how to change the tyre… oh the embarrassment!
Despite the red faces, from not knowing how to change a tyre and of course feeling the sting on those famous Monaco hills, both crossed the finish line with huge smiles and more importantly, in one piece.
While the race day may have felt like seriously hard work for all involved, that wasn’t the only event of the trip as the Friday race was swiftly followed by the infamous Butterfly Ball the very next day.
As always, Team Vivendi were at the helm helping to set up for the event before rushing off to glam themselves up to not only attend the ball but to help during the live auction by highlighting bids and pledges.
The night itself was nothing short of amazing and the evening’s auction, coupled with the cycle race managed to raise a whopping £1.5m for the charity. This amount of money, along with the money we managed to raise ourselves with our Move Miles Challenge will go towards helping disabled children and their families up and down the UK.
Here’s to 2022, where we hope to join Caudwell Children on even more adventures and raise as much money for this incredible cause as possible.
In the meantime, if you’d like to contribute towards Caudwell Children, why not check out our Caudwell Purple C180 Compression wear. This kit not only provides you with a great addition to your wardrobe but also donates £5 towards Caudwell Children for every piece of kit sold! Check out our Caudwell Purple riding leggings and riding base layers here.