Blazing saddles!

Matt Townend

This August Bank Holiday the Creedon brothers will not be the only intrepid cyclists hitting the roads in support of MfM. On the same weekend Matt Townend and friends will be embarking on an epic 8-day cycle from Land's End in Cornwall to John O'Groats in the Scottish Highlands to raise money to support destitute children and families in Madagascar.

As Matt, seen below warming up on one of London's ubiquitous "Boris Bikes", observes, this long-distance challenge "is the equivalent of doing the London to Brighton Bike ride twice a day for 8 days straight. And we'll be carrying all our stuff. So i'm pretty sure it'll hurt.". We here at MfM have no doubt that he's right - just the thought of 874 miles on the road is enough to make us saddle-sore. Luckily, come Bank Holiday weekend, Matt will have swapped his Boris Bike for something a little better suited to long-distance cycling.

Are you sure that's appropriate clothing for an 874 mile cycle ride? Matt warms up on a Boris Bike.

Please help make Matt's punishing two-wheel trial worthwhile by visiting his JustGiving site and sponsoring him. All proceeds will go to support sustainable, community-led development projects in Madagascar.

Watch this space for more news of Matt and his team.

A heartwarming yarn...

A few weeks back we shared with you the story of Franck, a young man whose life-saving surgery was paid for thanks to the efforts of nimble-fingered Money for Madagascar supporters and their exotic woolly creations.

This lemur changes lives!

 For several years this group of unsung heroes have worked tirelessly to produce and sell knitted Lemurs on behalf of Money for Madagascar. Proceeds from sales of these beautiful items have then been used to fund critical operations for some of Madagascar’s poorest and most vulnerable children and young people. 


The Surgery Fund was born in 2006 when a generous MfM donor funded an operation to correct the

The first beneficiary of the Surgery Fund

cleft palate of a baby from a very poor family that had come to the notice of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd in Antananarivo. The following year the Hotter Shoe Company sponsored Alan Dart to create a knitting pattern of a ring-tailed lemur which is exclusive to Money for Madagascar. Soft toys made from this pattern are now sold and form the main source of income for the Surgery Fund. This enables us to fund one or two urgent operations per year for needy children from the Sisters’ social centre in the capital. For the most part we fund operations for such things as cleft palate or hydrocephalus (water on the brain) for young children but, as our previous blog entry details, the most recent operation was on a 23 year old ex-street child who was rushed into hospital with acute appendicitis and had no means of paying for treatment.

Creedon brothers Cycle Challenge

On the 27th of August Andrew and Jonny Creedon will embark on a cycling challenge to raise money for MfM. They plan to cycle from work to home, which may not sound too hard except that Andrew works in the City of London and lives in 270miles away in Liverpool! They hope to complete the challenge in 3 days. Good luck guys, I hope you’ve got well padded saddles!
To support these inCREEDable cyclists please follow the link to their fundraising page: http://www.justgiving.com/andrew-creedon0

News from Madagascar

Life-saving surgery for Franck...
We’ve got the lemur knitters to thank!

This young man was recently rushed into hospital with a hernia and acute appendicitis. Thanks to ‘The Sisters’ Surgery Fund’ Franck received life-saving surgery. He has just completed his treatment.

His mother was so relieved to see her son alive and well again. This is a translation of what she wrote to us:

“Bonjour, I am the mother of Tafitasoa Franck. I am so grateful for your help. My son's operation was successful and he is recovering well. His treatment finished at the end of July. A thousand thank yous. The money you sent has saved my son’s life. God bless and protect you!”

Soon we’ll be going behind the scenes to meet the quick-fingered, big-hearted knitters in the UK who fund surgery for Malagasy street kids, through the sale of knitted lemurs.