Briton living in Australia who raised £1.5million through Thailand bike rides setting up a second charity event for UK cyclists

Alice Tomlinson
Wed, 01 Apr 2026 15:50:35 +0000

A Briton living in Australia who had raised £1.5million through bike rides in Thailand has now landed back in the UK with the hopes of enticing Britons to the endurance charity event.

Steve Carroll, who used to work as a sales manager for the Rutland and Stamford Mercury, has come back to his home county following two decades of living in Australia, bringing with him an impressive charitable legacy and an ambition to do more fundraising.

Mr Carroll returned to the East Midlands last month after establishing an annual fundraising cycle event in Thailand that has generated approximately £1.5million for orphaned children.

The money, equivalent to $3million AUD, supports Hands Across the Water, a charity operating children's homes across Thailand.

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Speaking to GB News, he said the event has meant the children are given “a life of choice as opposed to a life of chance”.

Mr Carroll, who works in the property industry, now hopes to establish a second cycling event predominantly for Britons who want to raise money for the charity whilst challenging themselves.

Taking place twice a year, the event is a 5-day-long bike ride, where participants cycle 100km each day through the length of Thailand.

Fundraising efforts will go to Hands Across the Water, a charity established in response to the devastating Boxing Day tsunami in 2004 - one of the worst natural disasters in history, with more than 220,000 people killed or missing.

Initially, Hands Across the Water solely supported the children of Baan Tharn Namchai, an orphanage in Khao Lak, but has expanded to support broader communities in housing and educating the young people of Thailand.

The former sales manager became involved with the organisation around 2015 and kick-started the charity bike ride in 2019, which has been expanding ever since - growing from 15 people in the inaugural event, to 75 cyclists due to ride later this year.

Mr Carroll founded the event, called the Digital Live Ride in 2019, a cycling challenge spanning the length of Thailand that will hold its ninth edition this October.

He was inspired by his friend, Peter Baines, an Australian forensic police officer who led a recovery mission in Thailand after the tsunami and, in the course of identifying the bodies of Australians and British nationals for their families, noticed children roaming the streets with nowhere to go.

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Mr Baines eventually left the police force and built seven orphanages across Thailand.

By 2014, the costs of running the homes were mounting and he turned to his friend, Mr Carroll, for help.

Mr Carroll said the fundraising means the children are given “a life of choice as opposed to a life of chance”.

He said: "Although the kids that had lost their parents in the disaster had started to grow up, the orphanages never emptied.

"They continued to take in kids off the streets, so I got involved fairly heavily."

The charity now operates seven orphanages throughout Thailand, continuing to provide refuge for homeless children long after the original disaster.

The majority of funds raised have gone towards constructing and equipping a school for homeless children at one of the charity's seven orphanages.

When asked about the highlights of the ride, the charity organiser said for many it is riding along the iconic Mekong River, spotting exotic wildlife such as elephants and monkeys and also, travelling through remote, rural villages where locals do not often see “Western faces”, but always greet them warmly.

The cyclists finish the challenge by arriving in Khao Lak, where the orphanage is, and are greeted by the children.

Mr Carroll said: "When we arrive in town on our bikes, it just makes the kids feel as though someone cares.

“Many of them have lived a life where they've lacked love, they've lacked attention, they've lacked safety. And when we arrive, the opposite happens for them."

Despite his return to Rutland, Mr Carroll will continue leading the charity event while exploring interest for it back at home.

Mr Carroll is not looking for professional cyclists, but “ordinary people” who want to do something “extraordinary”.

He said: "Our target audience are just ordinary people - mums, dads, granddads, grandmas, students - who just want to do something really extraordinary out of their comfort zone."

The goal, he said, was to attract ordinary people willing to push themselves out of their comfort zone and take on a 500km challenge.

He said: "You don't actually know what you're physically capable of doing until you actually give it a go - 99% of them cycle every single kilometre.

“And when they finish, they're just so proud of themselves."

Mr Carroll and his wife Lorraine, who met at the Mercury, moved to Australia from Uppingham in 2006 with their three children after he received a job offer from News International.

With their children now grown and having left home, the couple felt drawn back to the UK and made the decision to return, albeit on a temporary basis.

He explained being away from a close circle of friends had been a pull factor, although he made clear the move was not permanent, suggesting they expected to stay in the UK for the next four to five years before eventually heading back to Australia.
If you’d like to know more about the charity cycle, email Steve Carroll: steve@digital-live.com.au