Event Outline

At 4am on a Sunday morning in July when most people would be tucked up in bed, several thousand people are cycling through the streets of South London, Surrey, West Sussex and into Brighton in order to raise money for the British Heart Foundation. The London to Brighton Night Ride is part of the Mending Broken Hearts Night Ride series, which also includes the Manchester to Blackpool Night Ride (September), which we have previously organised on behalf of the charity.

The London to Brighton Night Ride started in 2012, whilst the Manchester to Blackpool commenced the year before. To date they have raised nearly £1.5m for our client, British Heart Foundation.

Literally working right around the clock, we organise all the operations and logistics for the event and manage the safe passage of nearly 5000 cyclists in this unique and very special event, which attained over a 90% overall participation satisfaction on the rider survey.

The London to Brighton event starts at in Central London and finishes on the seafront in Madeira Drive, Brighton. We manage a safe, smooth start operation, releasing thousands of cyclists over a two hour period onto the streets. There are three service stations along the route. We arrange two sections of closed roads, the first over the South Downs and the second on Madiera Drive, to maximise rider experience and safety. At the finish we lay on plenty of entertainment as well as a welcome breakfast. We also operate a major transport operation to take riders and their bikes from Brighton to London. A full rider support operation and Event Control operation ensures any incidents are efficiently dealt with whilst local liaisons take place in advance to minimise any disruption to residents.

The Night Ride is one of our most challenging events due to the night time nature and the hours of work it involves, but through thorough preparation and a highly motivated team we are proud to deliver to the highest standards.

Event Aims / Objectives

• Raise awareness and funding for the Mending Broken Hearts Appeal for British Heart Foundation.
• Encourage people to take part in a cycle event and maintain healthy and active lifestyles, as this can minimise the chance of suffering from heart problems

Event Report / Testimonials / Highlights

For Manchester to Blackpool we obtained the support of Blackpool Council and they showed this support by projecting a large heart on the side of the Blackpool Tower for those finishing the ride in Blackpool.

The Manchester to Blackpool event in 2013 saw the cycling track World gold-medallist Andy Tennant setting off the riders. Andy is now the ambassador for the British Heart Foundation's cycling events.

"Cycling is a great inclusive sport that everyone can enjoy and the BHF offers a fantastic series of bike rides whatever level you're at, distance you want to go or terrainh you want to tackle. You'll also save lives along the way as the money you raise funds research into heart disease and supports those affected by it"

Andy Tennant, 2013

Both events achieve substantial media coverage. This included multi-page pre-ride feature articles and photo spread in Cycling Plus from a media ride led by our Director, Mark Sandamas. On the event night itself, tweeting, uploading pictures and updates to Facebook by the participants was heavily encouraged and followed.

In previous years there have been other celebrities involved including actress Gemma Atkinson. She took part  as she lost her father to heart disease and is all too familiar with the effect it has.

"I'm so excited that the British Heart Foundation has chosen to launch their first ever Night Ride cycling event in my home town of Manchester."

Gemma Atkinson, 2011.

"We want to offer riders in the North of England an event as exciting as our popular London to Brighton Bike Ride - with the added challenge of riding in the dark we think this event will be just as exciting, if not more. Whether you're a keen cyclist wanting to try something different or an occasional biker looking for a challenge, this event will offer a fantastic experience and in taking part you will be helping to mend broken hearts across Manchester." 

Nancy Prior, Head of Events at the BHF, 2011