- Iconic London based bicycle company challenges the government with a call to action promoting wellbeing within the capital
- Ahead of Car Free Day 2019, Brompton launch their Campaign for Movement, bringing together thought leaders on how society can do better in health, environment and infrastructure in cities
- 5,000 Brompton Bike Hire memberships to be made available, with 15,000 free bike hire days – over forty years worth – donated in order to encourage cycling
“Our urban lifestyles are damaging our health, and we have lost touch with our surroundings – it’s time to act now before it’s too late,” says Will Butler-Adams OBE. Strong words, but enough is enough for the CEO of the London-based manufacturer of the iconic folding bicycle.
Having been designed, built and ridden in the capital since 1975, Brompton has welcomed a rise in the number of people using bikes to get to work, however, they believe urban spaces need to adapt as population sizes increase and more needs to be done to promote active lifestyles, especially in the face of both a health and climate change emergency.
Therefore ahead of Car Free Day 2019, Brompton Bike Hire will be donating five thousand memberships to Brompton’s Campaign for Movement for just £1*, with fifteen thousand free days of bike hire, worth nearly £200,000** to encourage society to be part of the solution and consider cycling as the primary mode of transport across cities.
Brompton Bike Hire was set up in 2011 and has over 50 docks UK wide making it the UK’s largest network of hire bikes. Brompton Bike Hire provides folding bike hires for commuters and daytrippers, with docks and lockers placed at key travel locations meaning that unique to Brompton, daily bike hire can take just as easily take a rider across a busy city for a day, or even further afield.
CEO of Brompton, Will Butler-Adams OBE explains the reason for giving away the Bike Hire Memberships: “95% of London’s population lives in areas which exceed the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines. The government isn’t investing enough in cycling infrastructure to help solve not only pollution problems but our wider health and wellbeing. Cycling is the clear and obvious answer. We see this as a rallying cry to everybody to act now before it’s too late. If we work together, we can become a catalyst for change; creating healthier, happier cities that enable citizens, rather than hold them back.”
The pressure is building to find a way to ensure cities are better places to live and Brompton believes movement is at the heart of this. So beginning in their home city of London, Brompton is launching their Campaign for Movement to drive change.
“We’ve been speaking to some of the world’s leading urban experts,” continues Butler-Adams. “We’ve heard many brilliant solutions and clever ideas which could transform the way we live. If we investigate the way we organise and move around our cities, we can start to find even more solutions. Using a shared bike service is a start, and hopefully will encourage those who don’t currently cycle to consider riding across our cities.”
The bike hire memberships are available to new members now live now through the Brompton Bike Hire app, available on a first-come, first-serve basis (T&C’s apply). Prospective riders can redeem theirs by signing up to the service, passing the ID and credit check* and entering the code ‘MoveFree’. They will then be able to select the membership and will be credited with 3 days of hire to the service.
