Warwick’s bike sharing scheme supports Evelyn’s Gift charity

Nextbike, one of the UK’s leading cycle-sharing businesses for universities, has chosen to support Warwick-based charity Evelyn’s Gift this December.

For every subscription that the company gains throughout the month, half of the amount will go to Evelyn’s Gift.

Evelyn’s Gift was founded in 2014 in memory of seven-year-old Evelyn Smith, who died the previous year after having a viral and bacterial infection of her upper respiratory tract.

Over the last three years the charity has trained over 2,000 people in Warwickshire in CPR, and work in conjunction with other philanthropic organisations like the LWS Leamington Night Shelter for the homeless.

Nextbike, in partnership with Warwick’s UniCycle scheme, currently supply the University of Warwick with 100 bikes available to staff and students.

The bike scheme is currently offering half-price annual subscription to students and staff that sign up to the scheme in December, meaning a year’s cycling will cost £30 instead of £60.

This discount came into play in conjunction with the scheme’s For Charity campaign, encouraging more sales in order to raise money for charity. As part of this campaign Nextbike recently asked members of the public which charity they’d like to see the money go to, and Evelyn’s Gift gained the most nominations.

Nextbike managing director, Julian Scriven, said: “We’re passionate about inclusion and making a real difference to the communities within which we operate, so the Nextbike For Charity campaign seemed like a great idea.”

Throughout December, Nextbike will be donating half of every £30 subscription to Evelyn’s Gift, a contribution described by founder of the charity Helen Smith as financial help that “has come just at the right time.”

“A lot of what we do is just small acts of kindness, such as providing toiletries, toothbrushes, socks and other essentials to the homeless and we’re currently busy getting ready for Christmas.”

Julian Scriven also added: “It’s a brilliant offer for anyone taking out a new annual subscription, but best of all, they will be making a difference to a local charity too.”