SCOOTING AGAINST SLAVERY
A s S een F rom T he S idecar
Matt Bishop
O
ctober 21st 2017, the day I set off from London’s
Ace Café. It would be the first ever circumnav-
igation of the globe on a scooter with a sidecar.
Alongside me, my childhood pal, Reece Gilkes.
Our crazy idea, to travel the globe on this truly
silly vehicle, while raising awareness and funds for
organisations fighting modern slavery. It had come to
life.
We set off that day as part of Unseen UK’s ‘Lets Nail It’
campaign. We’d painted our fingernails fluorescent yel-
low to help raise awareness of slavery through nail bars
in the United Kingdom. Behind us were 65 other people
- a mix of burly motorbike guys and well-wishing family
and friends, who also donned the fluorescent nail var-
nish and escorted us the entire way to Paris. The site of
an ageing motorcyclist, clad in full leather, painting his
nails yellow in a drizzly north London car park, perfectly
set the tone for the absurdity of the challenge ahead.
Over the next 455 days, we racked up a whopping
55,000 kilometres, through 35 countries, across 5 conti-
nents. On route we faced some of the world’s most chal-
lenging environments; from the sands of the Sahara to
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