10 July 2012

BGP provides kit sponsorship for "The Waitrose Wheelies"

BGP recently provided kit sponsorship for Waitrose Weekend, the weekly newspaper of Waitrose, as its team of 11 "Waitrose Wheelies" cyclists undertook a 54-mile charity bike ride from London to Brighton on 17th June.

The bike ride saw some 27,000 cyclists undertake a gruelling trek from Clapham Common in London to the finishing line on the Promenade in Brighton, all in aid of The British Heart Foundation.

BGP provided sponsorship of the "Waitrose Wheelies" team's cycling jerseys and fleece tops, all of which were embroidered with the team's name and BGP logo. Waitrose is a customer of the BGP Group, with BGP being responsible for printing the Waitrose Weekend newspaper since its launch in 2010. BGP's sister company, Stones the Printers, has also been printing Waitrose's A5 cookery cards since the same time.

On the lead up to the event the Waitrose team had endured significant training sessions in Windsor Great Park on Wednesday evenings to help with their fitness, as several members of the team had not been on a bike for some time.

Sue Goater, Editor for Marketing at Waitrose and also part of the team commented, "The kit looked great. The cycling tops were really useful with additional back pockets, and the fleeces kept us warm at the end of our ride."

Sue said the team had also been inspired to carry on with their bike riding from now on.
"We are all going to carry on riding, and many of us have signed up for other rides," she said.

The Waitrose Wheelies cycling team started out their journey on the day by meeting up in the car park at their store in Balham, before moving on to the starting point at Clapham Common.
Their journey finished in another Waitrose car park, this time just off the seafront in Brighton.

A video diary of the day's trek was taken along the way by Waitrose's Head of Sustainability and Ethical Sourcing, Quentin Clark, who was also part of the team.

An amusing rap at the end of the video diary was also provided by Waitrose Weekend Editor in Chief, Ollie Rice.

The bike ride event is the largest organised charity pedal ride in Britain, and the Waitrose Wheelies team raised more than £2,500 for the British Heart Foundation charity, a figure which has increased since the end of the ride to around £3,000.

At the end of their journey the team enjoyed a well earned fish and chip supper in the evening to celebrate their endeavours.

Anyone wishing to sponsor the team can still do so at www.justgiving.com/waitroseweekend