Self-help organization of people with retina degeneration	Förderung von Ehrenamt & Netzhautforschung

Pro Retina Deutschland e. V.
____________________________________________

European Information Tour against
Blindness caused by retina diseases and
AMD (Age-related Macular Degeneration)

PRO RETINA DEUTSCHLAND e.V. Self-help Organisation of People with retina degeneration	RETINA SUISSE Die Selbsthilfeorganisation von Menschen mit Retinitis pigmentosa (RP), Makuladegeneration, Usher Syndrom und anderen degenerativen Netzhauterkrankungen	RETINA ITALIA Federazione Italiana per la lotta alla Retinite Pigmentosa
MAINZ (GER)	EINSIEDELN (CH)	ROME (I)

This information campaign starts with the

EUROPEAN-TANDEM-PILGRIMAGE 2008

from September 12 until September 24, 2008

from Mainz (GER) via Einsiedeln (CH) to Rome (I)

Project Description ETPT 2008

Euro-Tandem-Pilgrimage 2008 - from September 12 until September 24, 2008

Mainz – Speyer – Baden-Baden – Breisach –  Basel – Zürich  – Einsiedeln – Airolo –
Bellinzona – Gallarate (I) – Milano – Piacenca – Parma – Maranello  – 
San Marcello - Pisa – San Vincenzo – Grosseto – Civitavecchia – Rome

Motto: „Into the Light“

The Euro-Tandem-Pilgrimage 2008 is going to cycle from Mainz to Rome between September 12 and September 24, 2008 under the auspices of

as well as the Saint for eye diseases, the Holy Othilia. A service will be held on 13 September 2008 in the Mainz Cathedral by the Patron, Suffragan Bishop Dr. Werner Guballa, before the starting shot is fired.

Our European Tandem-Tours of the normal sighted, partially sighted and the blind have effectively worked as sympathy bearers for our organisation and its members. Furthermore, they have contributed in informing the public in Europe about retina degeneration and AMD (age-related macular degeneration) and sensitizing people towards the problems of the partially sighted and the blind.

On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the European-Tandem-Tours
(1998 – 2008) we have decided to organise another international Tandem-Tour - with a special character: a pilgrimage on bicycles. As in the past years, the ETPT 2008 is organised by Pro Retina Germany e. V. with tandem teams from various countries. The multicultural bicycle teams promote and stand as a role model
for the social tandem in our society.

The huge support from public figures and celebrities in taking on idealistic sponsorships as well as the project partnerships with well-known enterprises have rendered the realisation of this educational PR project possible.

Aktion Mensch	Alcon	ALLERGAN Ophthalmologie	AMO Germany	AOK Die Gesundheitskasse	ArcelorMittal	ASL Part of GE Capital Solutions

Participants:

An AMD Information Bus with 5 people (at least 2 or 3 of them eye specialists),

30 tandem teams (seeing pilot and partially sighted or blind co-pilot) and 8 individual cyclists (substitutes) coming from 6 European nations (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxemburg and Switzerland),

and 7 escort vehicles (one of them an ambulance) with 14 helpers.

The total number of participants is 85.

Presentation:

The AMD Information Bus and the escort vehicles are all plainly market with the logos of our supporters. The 68 cyclists (seeing/blind) will be cycling in uniform luminous bike jerseys and drive in line (longitude about 200 mtrs) along European streets.

The escort vehicles (including the AMD Information Bus) will drive in line following the cyclists. The line will have police escorts from Mainz to Rome (police forces from each country that is crossed during the trip through said country). The escort vehicles, the leader of the cyclist line and the police escort are communicating via radio system.

Audi	Autohaus Lang Weinmann	Balluff	BAUM	Bausch & Lomb Dr. Mann Pharma	Bayer HealthCare Bayer Schering Pharma	Boehringer Ingelheim

The planned itinerary and its stages:

1,495 kmss in 10 days with a total of 10,200 altitude mtrs.

We are crossing the alps at St. Gotthard Pass (train transport).

BOSCH	Bundesministerium für Gesundheit	CHIBRET Pharmazeutische GmbH	DAIMLER	DAK Unternehmen Leben	EpiRet	European Investment Bank

 The AMD Information Bus:

The AMD Information Bus 2008 with its competent team will stop at the same places (as listed above) as the cyclists and their escort and, in cooperation with the worldwidely organised AMD International Alliance Line, is going to inform the public about „sight in old age“. Eye specialists and experts are going to offer free advice and emphasize the importance of an early diagnosis as well as the danger caused by smoking.

Furthermore, more competent information about retina degeneration is offered via the German advice hotline 0049-180-587 00 18 (eye specialists from the German Ophthalmologic University Hospital at Bonn).

Tour stops for the AMD Information Bus and for visits and receptions at (at lunch time and in the evenings):

Mainz Cathedral and Town Hall, Speyer Cathedral and Town Hall, Baden-Baden Town Hall, Breisach Minster and Town Hall, Rheinfelden Town Hall, Basel Town Hall and Minster, Zurich Town Hall, Einsiedeln Monastery, Airolo Town Hall, Bellinzona Cathedral, Gallarate (I) Town Hall, Milano Cathedral and Milano Teatro della Scala, Piacenza Cathedral and Town Hall, Parma Cathedral and octagonal Baptistry, Maranello Town Hall, San Marcello Town Hall, Pisa Cathedral and Leaning Tower, San Vincenzo Town Hall, Grosseto Cathedral and Monastery, Civitavecchia Town Hall and the Vatican (St. Peter’s Cathedral) in Rome.

AMD Alliance - Line – Information Car – ETP 2008

Accommodation:

Depends on availability along the route: for example monasteries, boarding-houses, private hotels or youth hostels.

Cost and Financing:

The cost for the ETP (total of 85 participants) is 160.000,00 Euros, financed with the contributions of the actives, the sponsoring from companies and donations from state and other institutions.

The participation fee is 800,00 Euros for each cyclist, the cost for a tandem-team ist 5.333,00 Euros.

We are depending on sponsors and donations in order to be able to give the proceeds to the “Pro Retina Foundation for the Prevention of Blindness” as well as the “HEM Schwerger Foundation for Retina Research and Promotion of Honorary Posts”.

HEM – Schwerger Stiftung	HypoVereinsbank	IBM Deutschland	Intelligent Medical Implants	Klaus Weiss Elektroanlagen	Lamm Steuerberatungsges.	Land Brandenburg Der Ministerpräsident

Traffic regulation:

The procession is about 200 metres long and will be accompanied by a police escort from Mainz to Rome, ensuring a clear road for the Euro Tandem Pilgrimage at all times. The police escort consists (ideally) of three or four motorbikes. The tour will observe the Road Traffic Act and the instructions of the local police officers. We will be going at a pace of about 26 kms/h. At the crossroads, the tour will be given priority so that we can stick to our schedule. The tour participants are obliged to go as a group and to wear a helmet. The ETP is no bike race! Insurance is covered by a group third party liability insurance signed by Pro Retina e. V.

Presentation of the Tour:

A four-colour brochure is printed with a circulation of 10,000. The brochure is going to contain all important details on the ETP such as stops of the AMD Information Bus, itinerary and daily stops as well as well-known sponsors, donators, receptions in the towns as well as the aims of the organizers.

The website www.tandem-pro-retina.de informs already in the run-up to the Tour and supports it with daily reports from the Tour and presentation of the sponsors. The sponsors and supporters are to be presented with their logo in the Pro Retina Magazine “Aktuell”. Press information from the Tour is send to the big regional and national press organs as well as to all media alongside the itinerary (ETT 2006: 169 media with 9.5 million readers, 12 TV reports and 8 radio reports).

LB-BW Landesbank Baden-Württemberg	Mercedes-Benz CharterWay	Gemeinde Neuhausen Bürgermeister Ingo Hacker	NOVARTIS Pharma Deutschland GmbH	OmniVision	optos	orthomol

Our aims:

Informing about AMD, the age-related macular degeneration and underlining the danger of smoking in relation with this eye disease.

Informing the public about retina diseases and the consequences.

Supporting the University Hospital for Ophthalmology at Regensburg through the Pro Retina Foundation (development of a DNA chip for the early diagnosis of retina degenerations).

Furthermore:

With our commitment, we practise the sporty model „tandem“ to stand for a social tandem within our society.

We campaign for fairplay in sports and in our society when dealing with disabled/handicapped people.

We support and promote honorary projects.

PAUL HORN	Pfizer Ophthalmics	polytech	Media Studio Radio SNJ	Reinhold-Beitlich-Stiftung	REMAG	retina implant

Organised by:   Pro Retina Deutschland e. V., Vaalserstr 108, 52074 Aachen, Germany

Management:   Horst Schwerger, phone 00 49 71 58 – 6 84 81,

                        e-mail: horst.schwerger@t-online.de, www.tandem-pro-retina.de

Organisation/Planning: HEM Schwerger Foundation, Strohgäustr. 9, 73765 Neuhausen/F., Germany

Management:   Gerda Weyhreter, phone 00 49 71 58 – 6 90 02

                        e-mail: gerda.weyhreter@web.de

Finance/Controlling: Foundation for the Prevention of Blindness (Stiftung zur Verhütung von Blindheit)

Maria KretscMTRSer, phone 00 49 81 31 – 5 40 18

Organisation Team: Suse Dippon, Jutta Jergol (e-mail: jutta.jergol@t-online.de), Günter Kaiser,

Gerhard Weyhreter (e-mail: Gerhard.weyhreter@web.de, Julia Kloes, Patricia Maier/Renata Martinoni)

SPENDENKONTO FÜR DIE NETZHAUTFORSCHUNG
Deutsche Bank Esslingen Kto.Nr.0222 166 - BLZ 61170024
IBAN: DE44 6117 0024 0022 2166 00
CODE: DEUTDEDB611

SCHWEIZER OPTIK	SIEMENS	Sparkasse Dachau	Tieman GmbH	Werner Lies printservice	Zeiss	Zentralverband der Augenoptiker

Set up: Neuhausen/F., October 2007

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