- Count the miles, day by day - set a challenge over 2 or 3 days of the weekend and get sponsorship per mile. Start off with shorter distances around your local park, as a family day out.
- Spinning at the gym - persuade your gym to donate a spinning room to get your friends or colleagues to take part in a BIG BIKE RIDE Spinning Challenge.
- Static bike challenge - ask your gym to donate a static bike for a set period of time and get members of the gym to have a go at riding a certain distance and get sponsored.
- Motorbike challenge - if you're more a motorbike fanatic than a bicycle one, then why not set yourself a motorbike challenge e.g. Lands End to John O'Groats (847 miles!), or the route of the Tour de France, and ask people to sponsor you.
- Pedalo challenge - set a challenge to pedal a number of laps around the lake whilst supporters cheer you (or laugh at you!) from the lakeside. A great fun alternative to cycling.
- Race night - hold a race night at your home, but instead of horses watch a speedway or bike race instead! Donate half the winnings to go to the winner and the other half to the NSPCC.
- Racing computer game challenge - set up a computer game competition (great for the bigger kids!) with a bike race theme. Ask entrants to donate to take part and offer a prize to the winner.
The BIG BIKE RIDE is a great activity for companies and last year many of our corporate supporters took part.
Why not use it as a team building exercise or just a fun team day out. You could hire bikes and head out of town, have a relay with another office or have a static bike race in reception. See below for some more ideas.
There are also opportunities for companies to sponsor all or part of the BIG BIKE RIDE. Contact Louisa Stocker on 01252 795 735 or 07903 224 993 to find out more.
- Race in reception - arrange for a static bike in the reception or meeting room and ask colleagues to each pedal as far as they can in 5 minutes and to make a donation to take part. You could compete with the next door office?
- Inter-office challenge - arrange for a static bike for each branch of your company and see who cycles the most miles, ask colleagues to sponsor each other.
- Team building cycle - ask managers if you can take the afternoon off for a team building event and go for a ride around your office area/local town. Ask those taking part to donate an entry fee.
- Cycling week - challenge your colleagues to cycle to work for a week and donate the money they'd save on petrol, bus or train fares.
Here are some ideas to help you spread the word and promote your bike ride.
BIG BIKE RIDE promotional materials are available from 'fun stuff and downloads'.
at work
- Post your details on your company intranet.
- Design a flyer and include it in the internal newsletter, or use some of our downloads from this website, available in March.
- Get posters and other materials to display around the office.
- Tell your friends about the BIG BIKE RIDE.
- We have pre and post event press release templates for you to use. You can then send a copy to your company magazine or newsletter as well as local newspapers and radio stations.
- Ask your customers to sponsor you or donate a prize for one of your fundraising activities.
- You can request a logo or web banners to go on your internal and external company website.
- Leave details in your company's reception and meeting rooms.
in your local area
- Print off or order posters that you can edit with your details and post in local shops windows, gym, on your local church or village hall notice boards or even in your front window.
- Print off a press release and send it to your local newspapers and radio stations.
- Ask your local church or social groups to add a note about your ride in their weekly or monthly newsletters.
- The best way to raise funds is through sponsorship. It takes just a few minutes to build your own fundraising page - follow the simple steps to set up your own page that you can email to friends and family telling them about your challenge and invite them to join you and raise sponsorship.
- Set up your own sponsorship page through Just Giving - collecting money from sponsors is made easy by setting up a personalised page that can be accessed by supporters who can sponsor you then and there using a credit or debit card. Go to www.justgiving.com/nspccbigbikeride to set this up in just a few minutes.
- Gift Aid it! Don't forget to encourage all UK tax paying sponsors to tick the Gift Aid box on the sponsorship forms. This way for every £1 you raise we receive another 25p from the Government.
- Entry fee - why not charge your riders an entry fee to take part?
- Have a post ride BBQ party - reward your riders with a well deserved celebration. Ask local shops to donate items and invite friends, family and colleagues who didn't ride to come and charge a fee for the food and drink.
- BIG BIKE RIDE t-shirts - get the official BIG BIKE RIDE t-shirts for your ride.
- Fancy Dress - dressing up for the ride might encourage more sponsors to sponsor you!
Whether you cycle around the park, on a bike at the gym or on a motorbike, please try and raise as much sponsorship as you can to help make a difference to children.
