Blog / ESG We did it! Superheroes raised over £60K in past 3 years to make world landmine-free 15 July 2019 — by Barry Bassett 8 riders calling themselves, “The Superheroes” raised £27,000 for MAG International to help make the world landmine-free by 2025 by riding from London to Bristol and London to Amsterdam in 2019 for the 3rd year in a row. This makes the grand total raised by the Superheroes campaign, started and run by VMI’s Managing Director, Barry Bassett of more than £60,000 over 3 years.We embarked upon these rides when I learned that 24 people are blown up by landmines daily and half of them are children and we want to assist in MAG’s aim to try to make the world landmine free by 2025, as this is cruel and capricious and blameless children deserve better to be able to walk without fear.Barry Bassett, Managing Director, VMIThe great news is that MAG clear landmines and make peoples’ lives better. They have helped 1.4m people to avoid being blown up by landmines, cleared 100,000 pieces of ordinance in the last year and as a result, the toll on innocent human beings being blown up has reduced from 24 to 20 over the past year. It still means that around 10 children are blown up daily, so our quest is still important.2019 Ride 1: London to Amsterdam. 240km (150 miles).2019 Ride 2: London to Bristol. 242km (150 miles).Barry Bassett interview of MAG Superheroes campaign Interview of Barry Bassett by Brian Rose for Harrow Radio in August 2019, about his Superhero Landmine campaign, which Barry set up to raise money to eradicate all world land mines, which is now in its 3rd year. Lots of MAG pictures and Superhero bike ride pictures are superimposed over the interview. Corporate Sponsor Heroes who pledged at least £200We embarked on this plan to raise money and all of the following companies have dug deep and supported our 2019 rides for at least £200. 2019 Superhero SponsorsVMI CVP West Digital Saint Design 24/7 Drama Cooke Optics Adamantean Finance Bru Productions ProAV Azule Finance Sachtler SEGRO Smoking Dogs Films Hawkwoods ARRI EARS PLC Ametek cmotion Navigator Systems Sumo Light Motion Impossible Panasonic Derisk 360 LCA Sony RED Top Teks Kingfisher PLC Integro Group Vocas Gramafilm Corona CCS Holdan Olyvon Kays Outfilming Teradek Western Digital (G-Tech) IVB Media Quartz Insurance Bru Productions Quotevine Ltd Japan Centre Anton Bauer Mach 4 Solutions Worldmark Films Leitz Cine CCK Media Band Pro Cinematography Electronics Infinity Photo-Optical Company Sigma Lenses Offspring Films VIP-Fone Production Gear Bubble Agency Rip Tie Medialease ES Broadcast Ronford Baker Fujinon S+O Media Brownian Motion Movietech Hireacamera SOLA Lighting Picture Canning Shift-4 Soho Broadcast FAVA Rental Video Europe Focus 24 Panavision Camelot Koerner Camera (US) Cine House JL Fisher Polecam Hireworks Shoot HD Genesis Hire TTX Prime TV International Performance Insurance JVCWe sincerely thank all private and corporate sponsors, without who this ride would not be possible. Your contributions will save lives and prevent children from being blown up. Barry BassettMaker a donation and visit the Superheroes Superhero Team Justgiving PageDonate to team Individual Rider Justgiving pages on the team Justgiving site aboveI have used Justgiving for a long time and they promise that your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs.Why did we start this? We started this campaign because I learned that every day 24 people were maimed/killed by landmines DAILY. In the first year of the ride in 2017, we raised £12,500 and last year managed to raise more than £22,000, which was incredible.It’s true – every day 24 people had their lives changed forever and the tragedy is that mostly this affects children, who are just playing. The great news is that MAG clear landmines and make peoples’ lives better. They have helped 1.4m people to avoid being blown up by landmines, cleared 100,000 pieces of ordinance in the last year and as a result, the toll on innocent human beings being blown up has reduced from 24 to 20 over the past year. It still means that around 10 children are blown up daily, so our quest is still important.It is a cruel, capricious act of deliberately maiming/hurting/killing people and in Iraq, it is becoming worse, with remote controls and fridge doors acting as booby traps in peoples’ own homes when they return.This is a charity whose aims are close to my heart and we aim to completing 2 events this year to raise money for this very worthy cause. Video of encouragement from MAG Chief Executive, Jane Cocking Video of encouragement from the MAG teams in the UK and Laos! History of the events and motivationSome years ago I read a book called “One Step Beyond” by Chris Moon and it really changed my life.It was about a marathon runner called Chris Moon who had an interesting life before being blown up by a land mine and losing an arm and a leg. After he recovered, he continued to run marathons including the fabled “Marathon des Sables” which crosses the Sahara Desert and is accurately described as the toughest footrace on earth.I was really inspired by his story and grit and also by the horror and inequity of the tragedy that landmines have on so many children who are entirely innocent of the conflicts which they are involved in, that I decided to collect for a mine clearing organisation called MAG. They work tirelessly all around the world to help the 60 million or so people in conflict zones living in fear of landmines with the solid intention of making the world landmine free by 2020.Thank you for reading my story, now please help these victims, whose lives were irrevocably changed in an instant.Letter of Congratulations from the King of HollandLetter of Congratulations from Prince Harry