Time to gear up, go greener and help us bring pool bikes to Surrey!
The University of Surrey has beaten stiff competition to become one of the five finalists in the Santander Cycles University Challenge. The competition gives our university the opportunity to design and launch our own cycle hire scheme for the local Community!
We are now going to head to head with the four other universities to Crowdfund the money needed to launch a scheme of 50 pool bikes and docking stations.
Winning this competition will bring huge benefits to you, the University and the wider community in Guildford. By pledging, you will be:
- Making transport fun again! These great bikes are brilliant to ride, safe & easy to use too
- Providing users with one of the cheapest transport options in Guildford - just £30 annual membership if you pledge now
- Strengthening the case for further investment in cycling at the University and setting up the opportunity to expand the scheme more widely into Guildford
- Connecting the Stag Hill and Manor Park campus, cutting a 25 minute walk down to just a 10 minute cycle
- Reducing car usage and congestion for short journeys in and around Guildford
- Providing great health and wellbeing benefits for users
- Supporting a green initiative and the environment to reduce our carbon footprint - cleaner air for all!
Winning this bike scheme will bring us together as a community and make a huge difference to the way we travel between our campuses and beyond.
We will only win with your help so let's do this together for our community!
Each and every contribution counts, no matter how big or small! The competition is all or nothing – your money will only leave your account if the bikes are put in place.
For us to be in with a chance of winning, we need to come together as a community to raise £51,000 for Phase 1 of the scheme to get our project off the shelf and onto the cycle path. The two universities that achieve the highest percentage above their fundraising target will receive the support from Santander to install a scheme on their campuses.
We appreciate each and every one of your contributions, so we have created a package of rewards that we would like to give in return for your generous contribution to our cause. These can be seen on the right hand side of this page.
With your help we can make this happen!
(If we are not successful in bringing the Scheme to Guildford, pledge money will be refunded.)
Joining the pool bike scheme is really easy. You can either become a member for £30 for a year or buy a term only package. Members benefit from up to 30 minutes free usage and pay reduced costs for longer hire periods. You don't have to be a member to use the bikes as you can be book and pay for a bike via the nifty app. Either way, the pool bike scheme will represent the cheapest form of transport in Guildford.
The first 1000 people to pledge £25 will get their first year's membership for free!
As our university is split across two campuses, the cycling scheme would give us the opportunity to carefully place where our docking stations to give the maximum benefit to the users. For phase 1, we will install 5 docking stations around Manor Park campus and 3 docking stations on the Stag Hill campus.
Don’t forget to look at the ‘What happens next section’ below to find out more about where the docking stations could be installed next.
The Manor Park stations include:
- Surrey Sports Park
- Research Park
- Vet School Building
- Manor Park Reception
The main campus stations include:
- Duke of Kent Building (DK)
- Ivy Arts Centre (IAC)
- AC Courtyard (AC)
The University of Surrey is dedicated to improving the campus experience for all who work, study, and live here. There is no doubt that our University is expanding, as well as our community. As we grow, we want to make sure our university and community has sustainable cycling infrastructure that will benefit everybody. We have already committed to this process with our significant investment in making the University a Bike Friendly Campus.
The Santander Cycles University Challenge is our chance to get these cycles around campus and beyond.
It’s time to revolutionise how our staff, students and visitors travel between sites and around the town.
We know that 50 pool bikes will be a great start but this crowdfunding journey does not stop here. Once our network is up and running, the University will work with local partners to implement Phase 2 - a wider network of docking stations that expand the scheme into Guildford Town centre, as well as further areas around the campus.
Imagine docking stations at the Royal Surrey Hospital, Guildford Railway Station, G-Live and the Spectrum? We can make this a reality!
Contribute now for a better tomorrow!
