The Big Tree Foundation is the official charity of the Absa Cape Epic and the Cape Odyssey sporting events. From the inception of both of these events, Event Director Kevin Vermaak ensured mechanisms were put in place to benefit a far wider audience than just the participants.

The Big Tree Foundation does more than just hand out bicycles. We believe that, to make a lasting impact, we must focus on education. Through our interactions with schools in the communities along the routes of the Absa Cape Epic and the Cape Odyssey, we have seen the extent to which learners were lacking many basic resource materials.

It was the middle of 2007 and The Big Tree Foundation had just been officially set up to work alongside the Absa Cape Epic. There was no doubt that the fresh new charity would yield worthwhile results from their efforts, but there was more to it than that. Victor Sables (Big Tree Foundation) and Absa Cape Epic race director Kevin Vermaak had conceived of a challenge, which now needed to be put to worthy yet unsuspecting ‘targets’ out there!