Peace Group joins former Norwegian Prime Minister at start of ‘Around the World in 90 Days’ Bike for Peace tour

Bike For Peace reception at Manchester Town Hall

Rochdale and Littleborough Peace Group joined Norwegian mayors and Kjell Magne Bondevik, the former Norwegian Prime Minister, as they started the Around the World in 90 Days Bike for Peace from Manchester on Saturday (15 March 2014).

From Manchester, the Norwegian Group plan to cycle back to Oslo via London, Paris, Nice, Rome, Tehran, New Dehli, Beijing, Hiroshima, Tokyo, Kansas, Indianapolis, Washington DC and New York. They will be hosting a reception with the mayor of Hiroshima to commemorate the tens of thousands of victims of the nuclear bombs dropped on Japan in August 1945. They are travelling with a letter of support from the current Norwegian Prime Minister, Erna Solberg.

Philip Gilligan from Littleborough joined the eight mayors with his own bike at the Lord Mayor’s reception in Manchester Town Hall, cycling with them to Platt Fields Park where they all rode the Sri Chinmoy Peace Mile.

Philip said: “It was inspiring to meet a group so committed to spreading the message of peace across around the world. Their slogans and objectives are ones which I am sure many people in Rochdale would be eager to support.

"They include the immediate abolition of nuclear weapons and support for the casualties of the nuclear attack on Hiroshima and of nuclear testing and disasters in Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan, in Nevada and at Chernobyl in Belorus.

"The cyclists from Bike For Peace and Mayors for Peace are also promoting the integration of disabled persons, gender equality and cycling as a way to help the environment and to reduce global warming. We wish them well in their campaign.”