Want to combine a love of cycling with fundraising? On ya bike!
Literally! August 4th is Cycle to Work Day – A national initiative to encourage commuters to swap their usual method of travelling to work for their trust bicycle and put power to the pedal!
Cycle to Work Day is now in its tenth year. Not only is it better for the environment to cycle rather than drive, bus or train, but it’s better for the person cycling too! Cycling to work can help:
- Reduce stress levels
- Increase general fitness
- Decrease commuting costs
So with Cycle to Work Day in mind, we thought we’d think up some ways to combine a daily cycle with raising money for charity.
Here are our top 5 Cycling Fundraising Ideas to help get you started!
Charity Cycling Events
If you’re looking for a cycle ride to join then there are plenty of charities that already have cycling events set up to raise money. You can check out a list here and see if any take your fancy!
If you are a charity, setting up your own Charity Cycle Ride could be a fantastic way to fundraise for your vital work.
Virtual Cycle Ride
If a large scale Charity Bike Ride feels a bit daunting, then why not do it virtually? Pick a starting point and end destination and map out how many miles it would be. For example, Edinburgh to Brighton would be 500 miles. If there are particular locations important to your charity then you can make it even more personal to your cause.
Supporters taking part would count up how many miles they do over a given time period until they complete the 500 miles! It’s easy to keep a track of the miles cycled with apps like Strava. A great way of taking part without going the actual distance! And easy to do if you’re cycling to commute! It’s also bound to bring in sponsorship money.
Still working from home? Jump on the exercise bike in the comfort of your own home and you can pretend to commute to your home office!
Cycle to Work Sponsorships
If you’re swapping the car for the cycle to get to work then why not raise money at the same time? Friends and family are bound to want to support this with sponsorships! Not only is it good for the environment, it’s great to keep fit too – And coupling it with raising money for a charity is great motivation to keep on pedalling!
Exercise Bike Races
Got some gym buddies? Why not create a pool of money and then race each other! The winner chooses which charity to donate the money to. Nothing like a bit of friendly rivalry to spur you on. You could even get friends and family to join in the fun and place their bets on who they think will be the winner!
Sponsored Spin
Spinning – You either love it or hate it! Either way, if you’ve done a spin class you’ll know how good it is for fitness. Being sponsored to complete a set number of spin classes, or Spin-a-Thon is just the motivation you need to keep on pedalling – All whilst raising money for a charity of your choice.
Joining in?
Will you be swapping the bus for your bike on your daily commute? Or maybe challenging a friend to a cycle race in the gym? Let us know if you’ll be joining in with a bit of cycling fundraising – Keep pedalling until the pounds come rolling in!
Photo: Hannah Carr cyclist on road, sunset