The 13-day Bikeathon organized by the Courage Compassion Commitment (CCC) Foundation, aiming to create national awareness of CCCline’s 1333 toll free number in Sri Lanka, commenced from the Independence Square, Colombo yesterday (29) and concluded in Chilaw.

The CCC Foundation is a non-profit based in Sri Lanka and Australia to provide services in the areas of cancer and mental wellbeing and was founded in 2003 to assist the National Cancer Institute in Maharagama (NCI).

The objective of the Bikeathon is to spread awareness on the CCCline 1333 which aims to prevent suicide in Sri Lanka through education, engagement and empowerment to break the stigma attached to mental illness and some social issues.

The 1333 Bikeathon ‘Out of the Shadows’ bike ride will be over 1333 kilometres around the Island. The duration of the ride will be for 13 days where riders will complete an average of 100 kilometers each day.

The ride will start and conclude at Independence Square in the capital Colombo and there will be several events to welcome the riders and create awareness in each of the destination towns throughout the ride.

The ride will start on 29th August and conclude on the 10th September being World Suicide Prevention Day.

CCC Ambassador, former Cricket Captain Kumar Sangakkara also participated at the event and emphasized the importance of mental health and promoted the helpline.