Her Serene Highness Princess Charlene of Monaco made a grand entrance at the Monte-Carlo Yacht Club on Saturday where she attended the Riviera Water Bike Challenge gala, which was organised by her charity, the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation. The glamorous event saw close to one million euros raised through an auction to support the Foundation and the running of the second annual Riviera Water Bike Challenge, which will take place on Sunday, 17 June.
Launched in December 2012, the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation is dedicated to saving lives through the prevention of drowning deaths. It helps raise public awareness of the dangers of water and teaches children both how to swim and preventative measures to safeguard against mental injuries. From the Foundation’s website:
“The actions of the Foundation are also based on the values of sport such as discipline, self-respect and the other, the taste of effort as well as team spirit. The Sport & Education program, to build on the values of sport, uses sporting activities as tools to contribute to the well-being and development of children.”
Saturday’s gala was specifically focused on raising funds for the second annual Riviera Water Bike Challenge which sees mixed teams of professional athletes and amateurs compete in a 21km relay race on Schiller S1-C water bikes in front of the sun terrace on Monaco harbour’s sea wall.
In a statement in the official programme Princess Charlene said:
“The first edition of the Riviera Water Bike in 2017 was a great success. The 2018 edition promises to be equally successful. Thanks to all fundraising, the Princess Charlene Foundation, with the collaboration of Monaco and Burkina Faso Red Cross, has built the much needed aquatic centre in Loumbila in Burkina Faso and we are now in position to start to train water safety and swimming instructors.
“Since I launched my Foundation in 2012, we have reached over 500.000 people in 33 countries at the end of 2017, teaching them to swim, to learn essential water safety skills and to appreciate the values of sport that are so dear to me.
“Thanks to your generosity, all the fundraising will allow to finance the projects followed by
my Foundation and that are dear to my heart.”
Princess Charlene was accompanied at the event by her brother, Gareth Wittstock, and his wife, Roisin.
