The Kidz Klub Family

Time for a different tone and a more personal reflection of where this campaign and bike ride is leading us not only as riders but as Kidz Klub Workers.

After ride three, for me and Chris L,   training took a back seat and a bank holiday Sunday treat with friends at one of my favourite night spots, the Hi-Fi club in Leeds. Outside of the pressures and the dedication of Kidz Klub Leeds many of us are not only colleagues volunteering and working for a common cause but also very close friends. I have known all of the riders taking part in this event for many years now and recently we are re-discovering how to have fun and relax with each other outside of 8.30am to 1pm on a Saturday. (I make absolutely no apologies for the photo of Chris versus the double burger by the way, what can I say, training takes various forms!)

It is important for us as riders and the support network around us to really get along, it is going to be hard, it is going to be tense and no doubt we will rub each other the wrong way more than once between now and the 24th July. I firmly believe that strengthening our friendships outside of Kidz Klub can only aid our working collaborations inside of Kidz Klub and this will ultimately benefit the work we do with the kids and their families.

I have been a strong believer in a ‘Kidz Klub family’ over the last few years and the bunch of guys and girls working together getting ourselves out of our comfort zone for this bike ride can surely at least serve as an inspiration to not only KK Leeds and Liverpool but also the wider Kidz Klub network to use what you have infront of you. Together we can reach the masses, those not in the know, those who haven’t heard what we do. Word of mouth is a powerful tool, possibly the most powerful tool we have and the way we convey our passion for this cause can have a huge impact.

Bringing us right up to date (and sorry for those of you who aren’t Christian who read this blog but here comes the God bit) it’s clear that not only is what we are doing a massive thing personally and for Kidz Klub it is also massive thing for the work of the churches in Leeds and beyond. It’s clear that some sort of reaction is going on, whether it being the doubt that creeps into our minds when we set out to do a ride or whether it is my bike getting stolen! Whether you want to think of that as me being unlucky, stupid or other wise it has happened for a reason. But so far it has only served one purpose, to galvanise us as a group of riders, as a group of friends wanting to see God’s word spread among the children of Leeds in the most important of ways. (Well, two if you count the soon to be bike shaped hole in my bank account).

I’m a laid back person at heart and those who know me will know it takes a lot to get me riled. The chaos of the moments after finding my bike stolen could have left me broken and my whole opinion of this project in tatters. But that’s not what we are here to do, that’s not me and I firmly believe that such a trivial matter, and if you think about it, it is pretty trivial, i’m not hurt, I’m not being held to randsom and there is no wide spread bike shortage. This will not stop the plan and must not be allowed to stop the massive momentum we have at the moment.

I count myself incredibly blessed to have the friends around me to pick me up and support me when things go wrong. We are incredibly blessed to have this at Kidz Klub. We come from all over the country, all over the world in many cases but we have been brought here, to Leeds to do a job. Whether we are laying the foundations for others, re-invigorating a team, inspiring those around us, or wanting create our own little Kidz Klub dynasty we are making a difference. We are fighting back against apathy and distrust in our communities and we are fighting back against bad blood and the break down in our social culture in some of the poorest areas of Leeds.

This plan, that started off as me and Chris C having a joke via text message is happening come rain, shine, snow, thunder, we will be doing it! We hope and pray the sun will shine for us and that it will be the best possible conditions to help us out but a little rain never hurt anyone, right?

Perhaps I am dealing with the theft of my personal property in a more curious way than you would think. I am just typing words that come out of my head and they make some sort of emotional sense.  Perhaps there is a greater battle going on around our little adventure, perhaps I am trying to give myself some sort of logical closure (depending on what your opinion of logic is). But whatever you believe you can’t just give up when something bad or unexpected happens and you need to find a way of re-motivating yourself. This is how I am doing it and those around me on this ride are banding together to really get this thing moving.

The Kidz Klub family is alive and well and as we like to say, Nothing, absolutely nothing is impossible!

Pete