Bike Week is the biggest nationwide cycling event in the UK. A national celebration of cycling, Bike Week helps you get more out of life – by getting on your bike and exploring your local community. Bike Week focuses on encouraging families to taking up cycling as a regular activity in their local community. Bike Week is the time to “live local and get cycling.” Bike Week is free to enter and open to everyone – you can either take part in an event or organise one yourself, you don’t have to be an experienced cyclist either, anyone can set up a Bike Week event. To find out more about organising a Bike Week Event, or to see what events are going on in your area, go to www.bikeweek.org.uk

1. Bike Week 2014
14th – 22nd June

2. Bike Week Overview
• Biggest nationwide cycling event in UK
• Started in 1923
• Open to everyone
• Huge range of events

3. 2014 Overview
Objectives;
– Maintain participant levels
– 1,000 Organisers
– 2,000 Events
– Encourage new/returning
cyclists

4. Scotland 2013
Scotland
Total
% Overall
Organisers 92 12%
Events 318 21%
Participants 54,000 18%

5. National Breakdown
27%
20%
18%
13%
8%
8%
3% 3%
South East
North
Scotland
Midlands
London
South West
Northern Ireland
Wales

6. Event Categories
0
10
20
30
40
50
60

7. www.BikeWeek.org.uk
• Register events
• Event search
• Cycle Journey Planner
• Personal organisers
page
• Blog

8. Event Ideas

9. Event Inspiration
Cycle
to....
Cycle
Skills
Dr
Bike
Company
treasure
hunt
Cycling
club
rides
Cycle to
the fete
Mass
participation
ride
Parent &
children
ride
Traffic
free ride
LARGE
EVENTS (500+)
SMALL EVENTS
(<100)
MEDIUM EVENTS
(100-500)

10. Dr Bike Checklist

11. Dr Bike Checklist

12. Event Planning
• Venue
• Licensing and permits
• Insurance
• Participants
• Event Experience
• Evaluation

13. STV Appeal
Bike Week Presentation

14. Making a difference
• The STV Appeal is committed to helping children and young people
affected by poverty in Scotland
• In just three years the STV Appeal has raised over £5.7
million, supporting 172 projects across all 32 local authority areas in
Scotland, providing much needed support to 27,000 children
• Every single penny raised by the STV Appeal stays in Scotland and
100% of donations are spent on the children who need it most

15. STV Appeal promises to:
• Give every penny of every pound that you
donate to the children who need it most.
• Keep all your money in Scotland
• Invest your donations in projects that will make a
real difference to the lives of children affected by
poverty
• Speak up for the children who can’t
• Support a community project in every single
local authority in Scotland

16. Who is with us
• Lorraine Kelly, Baroness Margaret Ford, Sir Tom Hunter and Sir Ian
Wood are trustees
• Some familiar brands including Royal Bank of
Scotland, Lidl, Tunnock’s and Optical Express have lent their support
to the charity
• Sir Alex Ferguson, Mark Beaumont, Sean Batty, John Michie and
Pamela Stephenson are among the familiar names who have
backed the campaign.
• Community is at the heart of the Appeal – support from schools and
local community is crucial
• In 2013, the STV Appeal was selected as the official charity partner
for freshnlo Pedal for Scotland

17. Highlights from 2013

19. Mark Beaumont’s Highland Line Challenge
June
• Reaching communities across
Scotland –
Arran, Rothesay, Dunoon, Garelochh
ead, Balmaha, Callander, Crieff, Blai
rgowrie, Stonehaven and Aberdeen
• Corporate sponsors – Aberdeen
Asset Management, Cala Homes
and Insights
• Joined along the route by
celebrities, running
clubs, schools, Rotary clubs and
local businesses and hosting smaller
evening events

20. Sean Batty’s Northern Isles Challenge
July
• 150 mile cycle challenge
across Orkney and Shetland
• Corporate sponsor – Tunnock’s
• Community groups, cycling
clubs, businesses, schools,
rotary clubs met Sean along
the route and hosted events

21. Dance Marathons
August
• Aberdeen and Glasgow
events
• Celebrity support
• Targeted dance groups,
community groups and
schools across Scotland
• Over 800 people took part

22. freshnlo Pedal for Scotland
September
• Official charity partner
• STV presenters got on their
bikes
• STV staff got involved too
• Reaching out to communities
and businesses
• STV Appeal programme
featuring Pedal for Scotland

23. What we have learned
• Give yourself plenty planning and organising time to make the
event fun and successful for everyone involved
• Assemble a organising team
• Agree your event goals
– Raise awareness and support for a cause or organisation?
– Promote a healthy active lifestyle?
– Raise money?
– Celebrate achievements?

24. What we have learned
• Decide on the date, time and venue
– Choose a suitable date and venue for your audience
– Avoid clashes with other events – search online for event listings
– Think about parking, accessibility, equipment available
– Decide start time – how long will it take to set up/finish? Does it fit with public transport
times? How many people will need to register on the day?
– Contact the venue you are consider as soon as possible
– Do you need provisions for food and drink
– Event signage
– Health and safety / first aid requirements
• Who else you will need to contact
– Do you need to apply for permissions or licenses
– This may include land owners, local residents and businesses

25. What we have learned
• Communicate with participants regularly
– Send registration information
– Prepare event information sheet – route information, what to bring etc.
– Make sure event information online is up to date / send regular updates
– Fundraising tips and sponsorship forms

26. What we have learned
• Recruit volunteers to help on the day
– Make sure everyone is briefed about their role in advance
• Tell people about your event
– Promotion – posters, newsletters, leaflets
– Publicity – local newspapers, radio, TV, online and social media
• On the day
– Create a fun event experience for participants
– Take lots of photos and celebrate the event online and on social media
• After the event
– Ask participants for feedback and use this to improve on future events

27. Raising money for charity
– Great way engage with colleagues and communities to raise money for a
good cause
– There are lots ideas – bake sales, challenges, sponsored cycles, quiz nights
– Get your friends, family, community and work colleagues involved in your
fundraising efforts
– Find out if your employer has a match giving scheme to match all or part of
what you raise
– Promoting your event or challenge is key to maximising your fundraising
efforts – tell them what you are doing, why you are supporting that cause
and how their donation will help
– The easiest way to raise and collect money is for participants to set up a
fundraising page online. This allows people to donate quickly and securely
– You will need a licence from the local authority to collect money in public
places

28. stv.tv/appeal
facebook.com/AppealSTV
@STVAppeal

49. SMARTS PR
February 2014

50. What is PR?
• PR is a technique which can be employed
to raise awareness, build links with the
local community
and, ultimately, encourage cycling for
everyone.

51. Bike Week
How to promote and raise
awareness of your event
Bike Week

52. •What you need to know
Editorial v Advertising /
Advertorials
Advertising / Advertorials
• Paid for content
• Guaranteed coverage
• Expensive
Editorial
• Free
• More credible
• More powerful than
advertising
Media Relations
Types of Media
Print
• Traditional print like local
newspaper
• National newspaper
• Community newsletter
Broadcast
• Local radio
• National radio
• Television
Online
• Online news
• News apps
• Social media
• Blogs

53. •Your Bike Week event
PR and you
First things first...
• Know your audience
• What type of media suits
them?
• What do you want to say
and why?
• How can you make it
interesting?
The next step
• Build a good relationship
with your local media –
pick up the phone!
• Create a PR plan – plan
your launch in advance
of your event and follow
up
• Timing – target slower
news days
PR top tips!
• Develop stories around
local issues / interests
• Use supporters as
spokespeople –
experts, local
celebrities, strong case
stories
• Write a good press
release – Bold
headline, 5 W’s, prioritise
facts
• Use Bike Week materials

54. •A success story!
Bike Week 2013
• 80 pieces of media coverage
generated – 50 more than 2012
• Launch picture was ‘BBC Big
Picture’ of the day
• 15 pieces of coverage on STV
Local network, 35 pieces
generated by event holders
• Coverage seen by almost half a
million
• PR Value of almost £1.5 million
- increased by almost £700,000
from 2012
Bike Week 2013

55. Bike Week on Social Media
NEWSLETTER

56. Facebook
• Main focus
– Cover photo
– ‘App Banner’
• Alter your cover photo frequently
• Use an image, video with each post
• Behind the scenes content is popular

57. Twitter
• Utilise #BikeWeek to engage in wider conversation
• Initiate conversation with your followers by asking questions. If
questions are open-ended, be sure to re-enter the conversation
• Engage with and reward followers by re-tweeting good quality
tweets
• Tweet pictures and short video clips of Bike Week events

58. YouTube
• Visit http://www.youtube.com/user/BikeWeekTV
• Utilise our videos from previous years – posting videos to Facebook
and Twitter

59. Get involved!
FREE
• event registration
• liability insurance
• national publicity
• website tools -
www.bikeweek.org.uk

60. Questions....