Kimberley Walsh to attend first ever Sky Ride City Event in Leeds
29th May 2013: Sky and British Cycling, in partnership with Leeds City Council, are today pleased to announced that Girls Aloud star Kimberley Walsh is the ambassador for Sky Ride Leeds and will be attending the event on Sunday 7th July 2013. The free cycling event is sure to be one of the highlights of the summer, as people of all ages and abilities in Yorkshire are given the chance to ride around the city on traffic-free streets and take in some of the city’s most popular attractions.
The pop star, who made the final of Strictly Come Dancing 2012, grew up in the Yorkshire city of Bradford and will be returning to her home county to officially start the ride and take in some of the route. The ride will also mark the beginning of a year of cycling celebrations in the city, as Leeds and Yorkshire get ready to host the Grand Depart of the 2014 Tour de France for the first time.
There are lots of cycling events and activities taking place across Yorkshire this summer, including further traffic-free city rides in Bradford (11th August), Hull (18th August) and York (14th September), and over 200 smaller Sky Ride Local rides with British Cycling trained ride leaders taking place across the county throughout the summer.
Sky Ride Ambassador Kimberley Walsh commented: “I’m really delighted to be involved in this summer’s Sky Ride campaign and kicking off the first Sky Ride city event in Yorkshire on Sunday 7th July. It’s a fantastic initiative and cycling is a great way to stay in shape and keep healthy. The best part of this event is that it doesn’t matter if you haven’t been on a bike for a while, if you're a novice or a more experienced rider, there is something for everyone.”
Tricia Thompson, Sky’s Director of Cycling said: “We are excited to have Kimberley Walsh on board as an ambassador for Sky Ride Leeds. This event marks the start of a huge 12 months for cycling in Yorkshire, both from a grassroots perspective all the way through to the Tour de France starting in Leeds in 2014. Through our great partnership with British Cycling and local authorities we hope to encourage as many people as possible to get on their bikes and keep cycling regularly throughout the year.”
Sky Ride Leeds is just one of the many ways local residents can get back on their bikes through the Sky Ride campaign. Sky Ride Local rides are free, local guided rides running every Sunday through the summer in and around Leeds, while Social Cycling Groups are giving people to chance to organise their own ride, at a venue and time that is convenient for them and their friends. There are also events tailored specially for women with British Cycling’s national Breeze Network, which encourages women to get on their bikes and have fun.
To find out more information about register for Sky Ride Leeds visit goskyride.com
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For more information, please contact:
Simon Ansell T: 020 3003 6680 E: simon.ansell@freud.com
Candice Christian T: 020 3003 6643 E: candice.christian@freud.com
About Sky Ride
Sky Ride Leeds is one of seventeen Sky Ride city events taking place across the UK this summer on traffic-free streets, enabling cyclists to enjoy a day of bike-based entertainment and to explore their city on two wheels with family and friends. The free events aim to encourage thousands of people, of all ages and abilities, to get on their bikes.
Sky Ride Local rides are free small, weekly community bikes rides that give participants the chance to get out and explore their local area. Led by a British Cycling trained leader, who is on hand to provide support and tips on how to improve for people of any age or ability they will be taking place across the country this summer.
In 2012 Sixteen Sky Ride City events and 1,000 Sky Ride Local rides which saw over 146,000 participants take part in Sky Ride City events and over 17,000 participants take part in Sky Ride Locals. Last year British Cycling and Sky beat their goal of getting one million more Britons on their bikes and cycling regularly (once a month) by 2013.
About British Cycling
British Cycling is the national governing body for cycling as recognised by the UCI - the international federation for the sport. Based in Manchester at the National Cycling Centre, British Cycling works across all levels and six disciplines of the sport, from providing the support and encouragement people need to get riding their bikes for the first time, to being home to the hugely successful Great Britain Cycling Team.
Continued success at the highest level is inspiring a boom in participation across the nation. There have never been more opportunities to ride a bike, be it for fun or sport, and British Cycling is at the heart of this growth. British Cycling also works hard to represent cyclists' interests at all levels, including campaigning on important issues including road safety. As a membership organisation, British Cycling provides a suite of benefits and support to its members who currently number over 70,000. All membership revenue is invested back into cycling.
About Sky in Leeds
Sky is a leading employer in Leeds which has grown fourfold since 2006 and now employs over 1,200 people in jobs ranging from IT and marketing to customer service and journalism.
About Sky
Sky is the UK and Ireland’s leading home entertainment and Communications Company. Around 40% of all homes have a direct relationship with Sky through its range of TV, broadband and home telephony services.
Sky is the UK’s biggest investor in television content, investing more than £2.3 billion a year in channels such as Sky 1, Sky Atlantic, Sky Living, Sky Arts, Sky Sports, Sky Movies and Sky News. Around two-thirds of Sky’s content spend is invested in the UK and Sky is the fastest-growing source of investment in original British programmes. More than 30 million people watch Sky content each week.
Alongside its commitment to offering customers a greater choice of high-quality content, Sky is a leading innovator. Customers enjoy total control and flexibility over their favourite TV through Sky+, watch TV on the move through Sky Go, and enjoy the best quality TV experience at home through High Definition and 3D.
Sky distributes its content broadly over several platforms, including satellite, cable, IPTV, mobile and WiFi. NOW TV, Sky’s second consumer brand, builds on the company’s leadership in internet TV. Sky is also the UK's fastest-growing home communications company and favourite ‘triple-play’ provider of TV, broadband and home phone.
Sky believes in making a wider contribution to the communities in which it operates by taking positive action on the environment, supporting grassroots sport, opening up the arts to more people and raising the aspiration of young people in schools. Sky employs 23,500 people, has annual revenues of £6.8 billion and is estimated to support a £5.4 billion contribution to UK GDP. Sky is listed on the London Stock Exchange (BSY).