Jenson pushes the Button to launch Santander’s ‘Summer of Cycling’
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McLaren Honda Formula 1 driver and Santander ambassador, Jenson Button, has launched the inaugural Santander Cycles’ Summer of Cycling festivals at the Science Museum in London. On June 30th. Four festival events will be held between July and September, each providing a unique ‘money can’t buy’ opportunity to do something no-one else has done before. As well as these events, there will be new routes, competitions, experiences and challenges across London up for grabs. Santander Cycles has teamed up to offer the following four very different experiences in London to lucky ballot winners
Santander became partners in London’s cycle hire scheme earlier this year in a seven year deal that will see the scheme grow and develop, giving users a more accessible, rewarding and enjoyable experience. Every docking station within the 100km2 area of the scheme and 11,500 bikes have now been fully rebranded in the Santander Cycles red-and-white livery.
The Santander Cycles App, which was launched in early May, has already been downloaded by 40,000 users who are now able to hire a Santander Cycles via their smartphone, view the nearest docking station and bike availability and keep track of their usage. The free App will regularly be developed and upgraded in the future with new features to make hiring a Santander Cycles easier than ever before.
Santander Cycles is the second-largest cycle hire scheme in Europe, and has been used more than 4 million times already this year – and more than 41 million times since launching in 2010 – making it a popular and affordable way to travel around London for work or leisure.
The Four events over the summer are:
The Science Museum – Twilight Tours, a unique, after-hours guided cycling tour on Santander Cycles through some of the museum’s world-famous galleries. Each group will stop at various points to hear from curators about the stories behind the exhibits. Dates are available in July and August for this VIP tour on wheels.
Totally Thames – A month long celebration of everything connected to the River Thames. During the weekend of Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th September 2015, Santander Cycles will run activities at the Potters Field Park on the banks of the Thames by Tower Bridge. Exclusive ‘money can’t buy’ experiences to be announced soon.
ZSL London Zoo – A Sunrise Cycle Tour though the zoo before it opens to the public. Groups will stop at the enclosures to find out more about the animals and ZSL’s work for wildlife in more than 50 countries around the world. The experience will be available on the mornings of 11th, 12th and 13th September.
Open House London – The annual Open House gives Londoners and visitors to the capital, an opportunity to directly experience amazing architecture across the capital, by opening more than 800 buildings’ doors for free over one weekend. On top of this, there will be exclusive access to selected buildings and gardens participating in Open House London available only via Santander Cycles.This includes Lambeth Palace (Archbishop of Canterbury’s London residence), which will offer a Sunset Cycle after hours on Saturday 19th September.
Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “Summer in London is the perfect time to take to two wheels and explore the city’s hidden treasures. There are many glorious cycle routes to enjoy in our capital and these new festivals will be a great way to encourage even more people to try out Santander Cycles at a host of unique venues.”
Jenson Button said: “The Summer of Cycling will come alive with a great set of events – giving people the chance to do some fantastic things in some of the capitals’ most amazing places.”
Keith Moor, chief marketing officer of Santander said: “We want to make using the Santander Cycle Scheme easy, fun and rewarding. These festivals are a great example of the excitement we want to bring to the scheme – giving people the chance to do things they simply could not experience in any other way.”
