This is a sponsored article in association with Santander Cycles.
During these strange times, Santander Cycles have been on hand for those who wish to get out and about, opening up the vast opportunities of London.
We spoke to staff at Haematology Cancer Care - the charitable arm of the Blood Diseases service at University College London Hospitals (UCLH) - about how they have made use of Santander Cycles to continue their fundraising efforts.
"With the cancellation and postponement of events this year, the charity has had to be nimble in order to raise funds," said Simon Tolhurst of Haematology Cancer Care. The wonderful clinical staff at UCLH are very much involved in the fundraising, Simon told VT.
This year, the charity has had to be more inventive than ever before to realise their fundraising ambitions, while adhering to strict social distancing protocols to keep both staff and patients safe.
And so, the idea of the Race Across London was born - a treasure hunt of sorts, where teams would bike across London with at least one member of each group using a Santander Cycle. They would solve clues in order to complete the route, taking selfies at each location. The route was 16 miles in total and included destinations such as "Abbey Road, Buckingham Palace and the Mary Poppins statue," Simon told VT.
"One person on each team [used] a Santander bike" Simon explained to VT. This was a wonderful addition to the fundraising efforts, as it enabled staff who might not have a bike of their own to take part in the fundraising effort.
And for those of you who are competitively minded, you'll be interested to learn that the quickest teams completed the course in just over two hours.
Simon told VT that social distancing has become "a very real and present consideration for all the fundraising events." The Santander Cycles were a valuable asset to the team in their fundraising efforts this time around, allowing more staff members to get involved in the event. In fact, they became a key theme of the day. The event itself was definitely a success to be celebrated - it raised around £4,500 for the charity, something Simon described as "really valuable fundraising for us at this time."
The money raised during such fundraising efforts goes back into the Haematology unit, and is put towards research and patient-facing work. Funds are also used to buy extra equipment that's not provided by the NHS, Simon explained. In addition to all this, fundraising efforts allow for the charity to support further education for nurses. "We fund courses in haemataology treatments so that nurses can develop their training," Simon told VT.
You can find out more about Haematology Cancer Care's work on their website, here. Meanwhile, to learn more about Santander Cycles, you can visit their website at https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/cycling/santander-cycles.
If you are new to cycling or just want to brush up on your skills for cycling in London, you can take the free TfL online course or find tailored cycle skills training to suit you. When you complete the online course you’ll be sent a free 24 hour access code for Santander Cycles, with all 30 minute journeys included. Find out more here: https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/cycling/cycle-skills