'Gearing Up' For 8,000 Km Cycle

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Young couple to make investigative journalism expedition through Asia

Gearing Up is an investigative journalism expedition through Asia with the purpose of encouraging people to understand the challenges faced by others. The Gearing Up team believe this understanding is an essential foundation of collective responsibility.



Starting in October 2016 Katie Moss and Joseph Thomas will cycle 8,000km from Vietnam to Nepal (through Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar and north-east India) meeting social enterprises and charities working in two fields: sustainable energy and the education of women and girls. They will write about these organisations and initiatives, publishing their writing with various media outlets; their website will also display articles and host information about their project.

Katie, who shortly turns 25, grew up on the Barnes/Putney border. She went to Wimbledon High School and then to Bristol University where she studied German and Spanish. For the past two years she has been working on the Civil Service Fast Stream.

Katie and Joseph told this website:
“We believe engaging others to understand the challenges being faced around the world is an essential foundation to taking a collective responsibility. No longer do individual countries and nation states live in isolation: we are one global community and we want to encourage others to understand this.

“We hope to gain a better understanding and bigger appreciation of the challenges faced by people and organisations across Asia and the ingenuity with which these challenges are being tackled. By writing about the organisations we meet and sharing their stories through articles and photographs, we hope to inspire others to act and play their part.

“Although bicycles are not the quickest way to travel, we have chosen them as they are a low-impact, low-investment and, most importantly, a sustainable mode of transport. To us they are an engine of opportunity.”

Joseph, who will turn 26 in Vietnam, also lives in London. He studied Mechanical Engineering at Bristol University and for the past two years Joseph has been working at a clean-tech company supplying innovative products and services to the energy industry.

September 30, 2016