University ‘Boris Bike’ Scheme Needs £20,000 In Ten Days

Published on: 30 Nov, 2017
Updated on: 1 Dec, 2017

How a University of Surrey “Boris Bike” might look.

The University of Surrey is in urgent competition with other UK university towns to win funding for a “Boris Bikes” type scheme for the town.

Organisers of the bid are now appealing for support from local businesses to help raise another £20,000 by December 8 to win a national competition which would fund the introduction of a fleet of communal cycles and cycle stations across Guildford.

In a statement spokesperson Alison Scarrott said: “At the moment Guildford is in fourth place in the competition, so we desperately need more donations if this is going to work.

“Guildford is the UK’s sixth most congested town in the UK. A fleet of easy access, communal cycles, housed at key transport interchanges within Guildford will significantly help to reduce traffic congestion, employee stress levels and workload management, making Guildford a healthier and more attractive location to live and work in.”

If the University of Surrey beats their competitors it would win funding for the first phase of the project and be able to rolled out the introduction of communal bikes across the university campus.

Organisers hope that Boris Bikes would help transportation around the university campus and to and from the town.

Scarrott continued: “We have already raised £31,000 of our £51,000 target but to secure the bikes for Guildford we need to exceed our target and must raise a further minimum of 20K.

“Phase two of the plan would expand the network of cycles and stations across the Surrey Research Park and into Guildford town centre.”

The organisers need local businesses to come on board and get involved with phase one by making corporate pledges of £5000. They are offering a range of partnership and sponsoring opportunities. In return for sponsorship businesses benefits on offer include:

Branding options of one of the cycle docking stations
Discounted bike scheme membership for staff
Branding opportunities for the sponsor business across the UoS campus
Positive PR of the business brand in university media publications, including the website, social media and newsletters
Involvement with UoS launch event
The satisfaction of making a genuine difference to working and living in Guildford

Alison Scarrott concluded: “The competition deadline is on 8^th December and we need local business pledges to help win the funding which would help us transform Guildford. Please call me today on 01483 579693 to discuss backing the pledge, or click here to visit the pledge page, and get your business involved with this exciting opportunity.”