BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
World Bicycle Relief has been chosen as the 2021 charity partner of Raleigh.
The partnership will see activations rolled out at Raleigh offices throughout the year, including quarterly virtual challenges, participation in and joint promotion of larger fundraising events and a salary sacrifice scheme for employees wishing to donate to World Bicycle Relief.
Raleigh’s target for these activities is to raise enough money to allow an entire school of students to receive World Bicycle Relief’s purpose-built Buffalo bikes, helping them get to school and finish their education.
Supporting this will be a social media, newsletter programme and blog series distributed by Raleigh to consumers to promote the charity partnership. These will share first-hand accounts of charitable work taking place internationally and how World Bicycle Relief’s mission is progressing. The aim is to increase awareness of the charity amongst bike enthusiasts and encourage donations to World Bicycle Relief.
“We’re absolutely delighted to be working with such an amazing charity that’s actively making a difference to lives every day,” said Lee Kidger, managing director of Raleigh UK and Ire. “We understand the importance of having a bicycle for recreational use here in the UK, but for the communities World Bicycle Relief supports, it really is the difference between getting an education and being able to travel to school each day, or not.
“The Buffalo bike is such an important and essential mode of transportation; therefore, we want to make a difference and support a whole school this year by funding the supply of bikes. We feel really honoured to embarking on this partnership and we’ll be supporting this venture with some amazing, eye-catching initiatives that are really going to help our fundraising targets.”
World Bicycle Relief is currently celebrating the 15th year since its inception, having given live-changing mobility to 2.9 million people in 21 countries. The global non-profit has delivered 540,000 Buffalo bikes to students, healthcare workers and entrepreneurs, enabling them to overcome the challenges faced by walking long distances on foot.
Allison Dufosee, CEO of World Bicycle Relief UK, added: “We have not been able to contain our excitement for this announcement! Raleigh is an iconic bike brand and it’s an honour to be chosen as their charity partner. It feels fitting that the creator of bikes that have given such joy to people across the UK and beyond will help us show what a bike can mean to people who are challenged by the barrier of distance.”
Read the January issue of BikeBiz below:
