Places available London to Surrey Prudential Ride 10

helentinnitus

I am the Head of Fundraising for the British Tinnitus Association and have two places to fill for the London to Surrey Prudential Rise 100 (100 mile cycle) taking place on Sunday 4th August.

The places are offered free in return for £750 minimum (including Gift Aid) raised for the charity. This amount is set to offset our cost for the places as well as raise much needed income for this very worthy cause. One in ten people have tinnitus so that is one in ten people you know who might need the help of the British Tinnitus Association. We receive no government funds towards our work.

I am told this event was over subsribed by 20,000 people but I am finding it hard to find 2 bikers willing to race and fundraise. So if there is anywhere else I should be posting this please let me know - or please share far and wide!

I need to get 2 more cyclists signed up by 15th May or we loose the places.

Please, please help.

Further information can be found on our website www.tinnitus.org.uk or to reserve a place please email me helen@tinnitus.org.uk

Grill

I'll ride but have zero interest in fundraising. If I wanted to fundraise I never would have gotten a proper job and would be working my local high street in a gaudy purple shirt.

I think you'll find that this is a common theme. How much did you as an organization actually have to pay for the places?

helentinnitus

Hi Grill

Fundraising as a sector has moved on somewhat from your perception. Many professionals now 'do their bit' in addition to holding down high profile roles, and many employers now support employee fundraising.

It is not just the cost of the places that we need to cover it is also the admin time in supporting our fundraisers which is minimal but needs to be considered. Plus as outlined above ensuring we raise sufficient funds to meet the needs of those who require our help.

Thanks for your message anyway but we are looking for riders willing to fundraise. We do not have the authority to sell the places on.

Kindest Regards

Helen

Grill

I would never pay for such a ride, I was simply curious as to what it cost you as an organization.

Looking at your website I've discovered that I am indeed a tinnitus sufferer although it has roughly the same affect on me as my ptosis. Learn something new every day.

Slo Mo Jones

Grill wrote:

I'll ride but have zero interest in fundraising. If I wanted to fundraise I never would have gotten a proper job and would be working my local high street in a gaudy purple shirt.

I think you'll find that this is a common theme. How much did you as an organization actually have to pay for the places?

How very pleasant of you. I hope that being rude to Helen has brightened up your day in your "proper job". A "proper" job that is seemingly unaffected by taking time out to make 1700+ forum posts in under a year, and your lack of education - there is no such word as "gotten".

Now I think you should make an apology.

Grill

Slo Mo Jones wrote:

Grill wrote:

I'll ride but have zero interest in fundraising. If I wanted to fundraise I never would have gotten a proper job and would be working my local high street in a gaudy purple shirt.

I think you'll find that this is a common theme. How much did you as an organization actually have to pay for the places?

How very pleasant of you. I hope that being rude to Helen has brightened up your day in your "proper job". A "proper" job that is seemingly unaffected by taking time out to make 1700+ forum posts in under a year, and your lack of education - there is no such word as "gotten".

Oh but there is my friend. It's quite common in US vernacular, which you failed to suss out. And here I was thinking my spelling of "organization" made this painfully apparent.

I work from home which not allows me to cycle many thousands of miles, but also point out the fatal flaw in trying to get one to raise 750 quid to help those with "ringing in their ears".

If it offends you so much, then why don't you be the hero and raise the cash?

helentinnitus

Thanks Slo Mo - but don't worry about it, it comes with the territory many people have a very antiquated view of fundraising.

What I do think it is important to point out though is that the condition is very much more than a flippant 'ringing in the ears'. For 10% of those with the condition, or 1% of the UK population (around 600,000 people) the condition has severe impacts on quality of life and can lead to depression, sleep deprivation, social isolation, anxiety and stress. That is why it is important we continue to be here to help.

Slo Mo - if you know anyone who can help by taking a place please let me know. We only have until next Weds to register participants.

Thank you again

Helen

Slo Mo Jones

helentinnitus wrote:

Thanks Slo Mo - but don't worry about it, it comes with the territory many people have a very antiquated view of fundraising.

What I do think it is important to point out though is that the condition is very much more than a flippant 'ringing in the ears'. For 10% of those with the condition, or 1% of the UK population (around 600,000 people) the condition has severe impacts on quality of life and can lead to depression, sleep deprivation, social isolation, anxiety and stress. That is why it is important we continue to be here to help.

Slo Mo - if you know anyone who can help by taking a place please let me know. We only have until next Weds to register participants.

Thank you again

Helen

I will keep my eyes peeled. I already have a place but will be sure to point someone in your direction if someone I know would like to ride.

Grill

Looks like I'll see you there. I'll be the guy who didn't pay for a place and just happens to be rising the same route. Nice easy recovery ride after the LEL. :P

poweredbyidris

Helen, whilst I have no problem with your charity, or indeed fundraising in general, I think an appreciation of your audience is needed here

I, like many others on this board, entered the ballot to get a place in the Ride 100 as we'd love to do a closed road sportif in the South-East (it's the only one we have). However many (me included) were told that we didn't get a place because the event was over-subscribed. This is fair enough, but then we find that many places have been bought by charities and are now being 'sold' to us in return for large amounts of fundraising. I think there's very little scope for me being able to raise £750 in sponsorship for a ride of the same length and difficulty as many that I do at weekends anyway, so for me and others in the same position, gaining an entry via these means is a non-starter.

I wish you and your charity the very best of luck, but please do be aware that of this flipside to this particualr method of fundraising.

Der Kaiser

PoweredByIdris wrote:

Helen, whilst I have no problem with your charity, or indeed fundraising in general, I think an appreciation of your audience is needed here

I, like many others on this board, entered the ballot to get a place in the Ride 100 as we'd love to do a closed road sportif in the South-East (it's the only one we have). However many (me included) were told that we didn't get a place because the event was over-subscribed. This is fair enough, but then we find that many places have been bought by charities and are now being 'sold' to us in return for large amounts of fundraising. I think there's very little scope for me being able to raise £750 in sponsorship for a ride of the same length and difficulty as many that I do at weekends anyway, so for me and others in the same position, gaining an entry via these means is a non-starter.

I wish you and your charity the very best of luck, but please do be aware that of this flipside to this particualr method of fundraising.

Completely agree with what you are saying. £750 is a lot of money to raise. For example Nightrider doesn't ask for half as much as that. It puts me off doing rides for charity rides where they require (polite word for demand) a certain amount of money. Some charities require £2000 for doing the London Marathon which is not a reasonable amount of money to raise whilst training.

Good luck with finding somebody but I suspect there will be quite a few spaces not taken up because of the cost.

stueys

PoweredByIdris wrote:

Helen, whilst I have no problem with your charity, or indeed fundraising in general, I think an appreciation of your audience is needed here

I, like many others on this board, entered the ballot to get a place in the Ride 100 as we'd love to do a closed road sportif in the South-East (it's the only one we have). However many (me included) were told that we didn't get a place because the event was over-subscribed. This is fair enough, but then we find that many places have been bought by charities and are now being 'sold' to us in return for large amounts of fundraising. I think there's very little scope for me being able to raise £750 in sponsorship for a ride of the same length and difficulty as many that I do at weekends anyway, so for me and others in the same position, gaining an entry via these means is a non-starter.

I wish you and your charity the very best of luck, but please do be aware that of this flipside to this particualr method of fundraising.

Absolutely agree, the entry system has been farcical with numerous charities despite trying to shift places. Hopefully the organisers will learn and adjust for next year.

nferrar

Although I also have little interest in trying to raise £750 just to do a closed road sportive I'm guessing the amount is set by what they have a good idea they can 'sell' them for, I know someone that's entered via a £600 charity place and already raised the money so it can be done it's just not very appealing for many of us but at the end of the day the money is going to good causes, far better than football match/concert ticket touting...

Nickolarse74

In response to "meh - charitable placings"..... on a personal note, here is my story and perhaps the flip side of those who do not feel obliged to ride for a charity. Of course, there's no "right or wrong" answer to many things in life, I just thought some of you might like somebody else's perspective.

Being slightly new to cycling and having got [or gotten ? ;-) ] carried away with the entire Olympic fever issue, nothing appealed to me more than riding the Ride London 100 this year. I didn't get a ballot place, but most will have a charity which is close to their heart in some way.

My wife is asthmatic, chronically at times. The finer details are of course OT, but having given birth without complaining and seeing her hospitalised with chronic asthma once or twice every year, it didn't take long for me to decide which charity I wanted to ride for.

I must admit that the prospect of trying to find £500 in donations panicked me slightly after clicking "accept", but I would have happily made up say a £100 shortfall in return for taking place in a CLOSED ROAD SPORTIVE AROUND MY HOME COUNTY WHICH FINISHES IN FRONT OF THE QUEEN'S HOUSE ! Remember - "when you're tired of London, you're tired of life" - hah!

The odd thing here is that, having not expected to reach £500, I actually raised £700 really quickly. This got me enough recognition to bag a spot in the local newspaper, the distribution from which got me earmarked by the charity, who (with a Twitter / Facebook circulation of 30,000) promised to re-tweet and Facebook "link" the story next month. 25,000 local paper + 30,000 charitable exposure is a big issue in media terms, so this helped me to bag "race-day shirt sponsorship" from a major tour de force in digital cycling advertising to sponsor my shirt, which got the charity another significant pledge.

The total amount of my time spent on fund raising is probably an hour of setup and Facebook / Twitter promotions and thank you's and then 3 hours for the digital ad meeting. This time has been spread out since February..... 4 hours - So what?.... AND I'm now pushing 1,200 in donations.

The bigger picture is that I've stopped making negative posts on bulletin boards and Facebook and stopped being a miserable f*ck, having changed my outlook on certain life aspects, which, surely, can only be a good thing right?

Have nice day fellow forum numpties xxxx

helentinnitus

Thanks for all the comments on here - and good for you Nick!

I appreciate everyones concern/perspective but please appreciate I am only doing my job and making sure the charity can continue to exist for people who need our help.

For info the position re charity places in unlikely to change as charities were asked to comit a certain number of places for 3 years.

Best of luck to anyone already doing the race.

We have 2 places left to fill currently and have until 5pm today so if anyone is genuinely interested please drop me a line helen@tinnitus.org.uk

All the best

Helen

zardoz

I am saddened at the amount of negativity about this event and for fundraising in general. I find it always pays to read the details of an event before applying for it. The Ride London 100 when it was launched clearly stated the following : "The involvement of the London Marathon organisers underlines the mayor’s ambition that the event will become the biggest charity fundraising cycle ride in the world" it was therfore obvious that a large number of places in this event were going to go to charities. That was the raison d'être for the event, and if some people don't want to pay for an event or raise money for a charity then that's fine, just don't moan about it.

My story is similar to Nickolarse74, I got back into road cycling last year at the age of 56 after a very long break! I actually approached Prostate Cancer UK before the ballot was drawn to ride to raise funds for them in memory of my father. Raising funds hasn't been easy, but I have passed £700 relatively quickly with promises of quite a bit more to come. The difference in my attitude is I suspect that I wanted to raise the money for my chosen charity rather than doing it just to secure a place in the ride. Knowing that people had sponsored me also provided motivation to get out and do the training which it has, even with the horrible winter that we had I have so far managed 3,500 miles since September having started from nothing.

It will be a great event I'm sure, a unique opportunity to ride on closed roads through our great capital city, I also ran in the first London Marathon so perhaps a unique double for me.

Helen, I hope that you manage to fill the places.

And Grill, I sincerely hope that you are never in a position to require support from a charity in your life, to not raise funds is a personal decision which I respect. Its not something to be proud of.

martinperry

Zardoz, Nicholarse
Here here!
DONT FEED THE TROLLS

AchillesLeftKnee

zardoz wrote:

I am saddened at the amount of negativity about this event and for fundraising in general. I find it always pays to read the details of an event before applying for it. The Ride London 100 when it was launched clearly stated the following : "The involvement of the London Marathon organisers underlines the mayor’s ambition that the event will become the biggest charity fundraising cycle ride in the world" it was therfore obvious that a large number of places in this event were going to go to charities. That was the raison d'être for the event, and if some people don't want to pay for an event or raise money for a charity then that's fine, just don't moan about it.

My story is similar to Nickolarse74, I got back into road cycling last year at the age of 56 after a very long break! I actually approached Prostate Cancer UK before the ballot was drawn to ride to raise funds for them in memory of my father. Raising funds hasn't been easy, but I have passed £700 relatively quickly with promises of quite a bit more to come. The difference in my attitude is I suspect that I wanted to raise the money for my chosen charity rather than doing it just to secure a place in the ride. Knowing that people had sponsored me also provided motivation to get out and do the training which it has, even with the horrible winter that we had I have so far managed 3,500 miles since September having started from nothing.

It will be a great event I'm sure, a unique opportunity to ride on closed roads through our great capital city, I also ran in the first London Marathon so perhaps a unique double for me.

Helen, I hope that you manage to fill the places.

And Grill, I sincerely hope that you are never in a position to require support from a charity in your life, to not raise funds is a personal decision which I respect. Its not something to be proud of.

Thing is, Zardoz, what you're doing is attempting to raise money for a charity in which you believe. There's no element of compulsion there. It is an act of altruism on your part, and therefore utterly laudable. I'd be willing to bet that, had you got a place via the ballot, you may well have decided to raise funds off the back of your efforts anyway.

What annoys me about the selling of places for charity like this is it turns the process of giving into a cringeworthy racket. For example, were I to decide I wanted to do RideLondon and took up one of the places offered on this thread, I'd be put in a really awkward position. I'm not the sort of bloke of who likes asking for stuff from other people. I find it very difficult to do. Couple that with having shown absolutely no prior interest in the cause in question, and I simply wouldn't be brazen enough to try and wring £700 out of my mates - the mixture of insincerity on my part, plus the implicit emotional blackmail of the situation, would just be far to much. I couldn't do it. It would be excruciating. To put the cherry on top, those I'd be asking also know full that I could just pay the fee anyway (as could a great many other entrants, if they're honest).

zardoz

So in that case you take pot luck in the ballot where you have a 1 in whatever chance of getting in but with no compulsion to raise funds for charity, its a choice. What I find annoying is that the event was clearly advertised as being a charity fund raising vehicle and then the people who didn't get in on the ballot are blaming the allocation of charity places on their bad fortune in not getting a place. Lets face it with the number of applicants verses the number of available places even if none of those went to charity the chances would still have been only about 1 in 3.

As for being a cringeworthy racket, I totally disagree, everyone who is riding for a charity does so out of personal choice no one is forced to do it and people will have different motives for doing so. I agree it is hard trying to raise funds and it isn't for everyone. Just don't blame the charities for your misfortune in not getting a place.

A ballot is exactly that, a lottery, some people win and some people lose nobody has a right to a place in a ballot. All who entered knew the score. There is always next year or the year after. Perhaps if the organisers had said what the split between charity places and true balloted places was then there would be less bad feeling but there again why should they?

And just to put you right, people who got places through a charity still had to pay the entry fee as well as agreeing to raise funds.

Grill

zardoz wrote:

And Grill, I sincerely hope that you are never in a position to require support from a charity in your life, to not raise funds is a personal decision which I respect. Its not something to be proud of.

I have nothing against giving to charity, I just take a more pragmatic approach to helping people (if someone needs help, I assist then and there) and when I do make financial contributions out of my own pocket (which happens more often than you'd think), I give to charities that I feel are worthwhile. Let's just say that ringing in the ears isn't on the same level starving children, HIV/AIDS, or wounded soldiers...

How much money did Christopher Reeve give to paralysis charities before his accident? Makes you think...

Nickolarse74

Let's not make personal attacks, it doesn't help anybody!

Grills - Like you do now, I felt INCREDIBLY awkward about asking people for money, which is exactly why I have NEVER previously done a sponsored anything myself.

Regardless, the fact remains that there are people out there (like myself actually) who constrain a certain amount of their monthly pay-packet to give directly to charities. Some, like me, rather than donating via monthly debit, prefer to donate the money through friend's sponsored activities.

Not only does this provide important support to people in need and maintain karma, in giving the cash to "sponsored this" and "sponsored that", it gives your friends, colleagues and associates (and / or their children) the opportunity to discover skills, talents, physical powers and inner determination that they never knew they had which, in turn, makes them better people. Plus, they get to do something which is often amazing (climb K2, bungee jump the grand canyon despite a morbid fear of heights etc. etc.).

It's win win all round, which is why SOME people WILL NOT mind sponsoring you. There will always be people who do not wish to donate, which is fine, and others who already (very privately) donate to other important causes instead, which is even better. But there is still a "budget" available to you, to channel towards a cause which is very personal to you. It might be that kid in the road who needs a triple heart bypass (british Hear Foundation), the 25 year old medical student (or soldier in Afghanistan) who developed tinnitus during an explosion, or your close friend / relative who is dying of AIDS. Actually, I think the Rainbow foundation still have places available ??? Look for a cause which means a lot to you, and you will find one.

AND finally….. The most important issue, IMO, is that you should personally thank whoever donates. "Giving" sites and their automated emails have regrettably, in certain circles, turned the entire sponsored event market into a process which can be as faceless as buying an ink cartridge from Amazon. Conversely, I believe that texting, emailing, sending hand written thank you notes and making a mental note to say thank you in person, in addition to the automated tut, is so, so important. Word gets around and people are genuinely touched by your personalised thank you's. I know we don't donate to charity simply because we want recognition or a thank you card, but does it make a difference ?….. Hell yeah !

Then there's thinking outside the box. Everybody has other skills which you can offer in return for a donation, which is then win-win-win all round. Mow some old folks / neighbour's lawn in return for a donation, wash their car, auction a carrot cake, dig a hole, paint their fence, whatever. I have offered all of these services locally and I GUARANTEE once you go the extra mile, you will feel better for it.

Finally, I have now advertised the fact that 2 places are still available through tinnitus.co.uk on my Facebook page and Twitter feed. If you agree with the gospel reading according to St. Nick-o-l-arse (as above), then please do the same.

Thank you.
Nick xxx

Grill

Errr... I don't feel awkward about asking for money, I just don't want to. Asking others to give me 750 quid so I can go on a jolly is not a constructive use of my time (and let's be realistic here, the jolly is the ultimate goal for most). If I really believed in the cause AND if the jolly was good enough I'd just pay the money myself, but 750 quid to ride 5 hours on a route that can be done at any time is a very poor return.

Sportives are already a rip-off, but this sort of opportunism is just silly.

stueys

AchillesLeftKnee wrote:

Thing is, Zardoz, what you're doing is attempting to raise money for a charity in which you believe. There's no element of compulsion there. It is an act of altruism on your part, and therefore utterly laudable. I'd be willing to bet that, had you got a place via the ballot, you may well have decided to raise funds off the back of your efforts anyway.

What annoys me about the selling of places for charity like this is it turns the process of giving into a cringeworthy racket. For example, were I to decide I wanted to do RideLondon and took up one of the places offered on this thread, I'd be put in a really awkward position. I'm not the sort of bloke of who likes asking for stuff from other people. I find it very difficult to do. Couple that with having shown absolutely no prior interest in the cause in question, and I simply wouldn't be brazen enough to try and wring £700 out of my mates - the mixture of insincerity on my part, plus the implicit emotional blackmail of the situation, would just be far to much. I couldn't do it. It would be excruciating. To put the cherry on top, those I'd be asking also know full that I could just pay the fee anyway (as could a great many other entrants, if they're honest).

This is pretty much where I am. Absolutely no problem with charity (I have regular charities I give to through standing orders each month) but I do have a problem with asking people for money so I can do a bike ride that I fancy. I also think that charities essentially 'selling' places to a very over subscribed event feels, well, tacky.

Clearly there are people who are doing the ride soley for charity, i think that's great. I would only be doing the ride because I fancied it, getting other people to pay for my hobby seems a tad off to me.

zardoz

Grill wrote:

Errr... I don't feel awkward about asking for money, I just don't want to. Asking others to give me 750 quid so I can go on a jolly is not a constructive use of my time (and let's be realistic here, the jolly is the ultimate goal for most). If I really believed in the cause AND if the jolly was good enough I'd just pay the money myself, but 750 quid to ride 5 hours on a route that can be done at any time is a very poor return.

You clearly do not understand what charity is.

ooermissus

Without a charitable angle, I wonder whether this event will maintain sufficient public support to close the roads each year in Surrey (given that cyclists are not hugely popular there).

Grill

zardoz wrote:

Grill wrote:

Errr... I don't feel awkward about asking for money, I just don't want to. Asking others to give me 750 quid so I can go on a jolly is not a constructive use of my time (and let's be realistic here, the jolly is the ultimate goal for most). If I really believed in the cause AND if the jolly was good enough I'd just pay the money myself, but 750 quid to ride 5 hours on a route that can be done at any time is a very poor return.

You clearly do not understand what charity is.

I hope when I grow up I can be as self-righteous as you... as long as my reading comprehension stays intact.

When have I ever said I don't give to charity or even have a problem with it? What I take issue with is fundraising. I find trying to guilt someone into giving money for a particular cause to be equal parts tactless and reprehensible. I give of my own accord without need for recognition or thanks, and I feel as others should do the same.

Would you still have fundraised for prostate cancer had you not had the experience that you did? Would you have volunteered to raise money for tinnitus if you didn't already have a charitable cause in mind?

You should try to understand that not everyone has the same motivations and experiences as yourself.

@ooermissus- Yes it would, Wiggo and the Olympics made certain. Keep in mind the vast majority of those registered (as well as the tens of thousands that applied but didn't get in) are doing it because they want to ride a bike, not because they want to give to charity.

ooermissus

Grill wrote:

@ooermissus- Yes it would, Wiggo and the Olympics made certain. Keep in mind the vast majority of those registered (as well as the tens of thousands that applied but didn't get in) are doing it because they want to ride a bike, not because they want to give to charity.

I am sure it will have public support this year and for another couple, but it could well drop off after that. Oodles of charitable money will help turn the event into a national institution that any nimbys will feel too mean to turn against.

AchillesLeftKnee

@Zardoz

I've no interest in this year's RideLondon myself beyond probably spending the day at a mate's house on the route. However, the missus is very up for it as a fitness carrot if it runs again, so the situation may well raise it's head in the future.

Just to spell it out...

I do not have a problem with charity.

I do not have a problem with people voluntarily giving their time and money to a cause they believe in.

I do not have a problem with an affordable, non-excluding, fixed "charity levy" being added to all entries, with that money being distributed amongst a pool of charities.

What I have a problem with is the selling of highly prized items by specific charities at a massive markup. With no option to chose a charity, it's little different to ticket-touting. If the missus goes for it next year and I go for it as well (which if she does, I will), and the ballot ends up weighted the way it appears to have been this time round, she'll probably get in, and as one of the numerous 5-hour-target-blokes, I probably won't. Now, I'd personally have no problem being faced with "give £700+ to the charity of your choice", but I will absolutely not go out there on the utterly false pretence of supporting something I don't personally care about just for the sake of an event. Restricting access on the basis of caring about particular cause is not, in my opinion, either fair or rational.

Furthermore, there's also the issue of restricting access to events by financial situation and social circle. Sticking a colossal markup on places will simply price a lot of people out of it, especially given that logistics involved in getting there are quite pricey for non-Londoners. I find the idea of effectively telling some potential participants that "you could have done this via a ballot spot, but you and your social circle are to poor to get you into this event you really want to do because we've held back a third of the tickets for people with access to more money than you" pretty offensive.

AllanES

AchillesLeftKnee wrote:

If the missus goes for it next year and I go for it as well (which if she does, I will), and the ballot ends up weighted the way it appears to have been this time round, she'll probably get in, and as one of the numerous 5-hour-target-blokes, I probably won't.

This was maybe discussed at the time but I entered the ballot and didn't get a place.
I presumed it was because, being a beginner with no sportive, long ride experience, I put down my expected time as being the maximum they had on the entry form. (I forget exactly what time that was.) But I guessed "the masses" would put down that time and therefore the chances of getting a place would be slim?

Just a thought...and maybe give me ideas for next year. Would I increase my chances of getting a ballot place by being economical with the truth and saying I expected to complete in Wiggo-time?

zardoz

I give up!

Nickolarse74

AllanES wrote:

This was maybe discussed at the time but I entered the ballot and didn't get a place.
I presumed it was because, being a beginner with no sportive, long ride experience, I put down my expected time as being the maximum they had on the entry form.

Much of the PR ammunition fired out shortly afterwards seemed biassed towards "getting people into sport and maintaining the Olympic legacy, reduced carbon footprint etc.". As such, IMO you actually had a better chance of success being a "rookie". I remember one of the earliest facts the PR team released was the exact result for the "significantly high number of applicants with no previous sportive experience".