Against the stark backdrop of COVID-19 lockdown, a group of event industry professionals are taking to their bikes, to raise awareness of the issues faced by the sector in support of the #WeMakeEvents campaign.
Not known for their cycling prowess, their ambition is to complete 1,500km across England, traveling a circuitous route between Newcastle and London, 3 to 18 October. Each day they will visit venues on their route, to raise awareness of the plight of closed down venues and over 600,000 live industry professionals currently unable to work.
They will be posting daily updates and ask that you follow the intrepid cyclists, give them plenty of encouragement and repost their journey to help raise awareness.
Respectful of the ‘Rule of Six’, the ride bubble is comprised of Steve Reynolds and Mike Trasmundi, who work at Loudsound, along with Mark Ward, Harry Ford and Tyler Cole-Homes of Proper Productions.
The cyclists are inviting other industry professionals to join them along the route – strictly maintaining their distance and riding in their own bubbles of six.
Money raised will go to the charity Backup – supporting entertainment technology professionals in need of support – via this just giving page.
Steve Reynolds stated: “The thought of how the people and companies in industry we all love and work in is being decimated will motivate us across the miles. We want to raise awareness and bring people together along the route to show the huge positive contribution events and venues make to our society.”
Mark Ward commented: “Events are all about bringing people together and we hope in this dark hour we can help bring the event community together as part of the #WeMakeEvents campaign. The events industry is a powerful, vibrant and hugely viable sector that is critical to maintaining the cultural fabric of our society, and we want to shine a light on the fact that we have been forced to shut with no meaningful support mechanism.”