‘London to Delhi’ bikeathon raises cash for India’s Covid crisis

Looking for a way to help, members of the Hindu temple in Neasden decided to organise a bikeathon fundraiser that would be socially distanced and at the same time attract young people.

For British IT consultant Yogen Shah, India’s Covid-19 crisis is deeply personal. The pictures of people hooked up to oxygen bottles on the streets of New Delhi and patients sharing beds in overcrowded hospitals remind him of his uncle in India, who recently contracted the disease. So Shah joined volunteers from one of Britain’s largest Hindu temples who set out to raise 500,000 pounds ($690,000) by racking up 7,600 kilometers (4,722 miles) on stationary bikes — roughly the distance from London to Delhi — in 48 hours.