Wiggle supports Sustrans

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MarkW
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Joined: 2 Mar 2007, 2:23pm

Wiggle supports Sustrans

Post by MarkW »

Because I've bought stuff at Wiggle - haven't we all! - they send me regular marketing emails. Today's one was about their legal 'no win no fee' service. They mention that Sustrans benefits from their service and then describe Sustrans as 'Our Charity of Choice'.

Hold on a mo! Sustrans are smart enough to have their own shop. CTC aren't that smart and choose to oursource this service to..... Wiggle! You'd actually think that Wiggle might return the compliment by choosing CTC as their 'charity of choice'.

Now of course CTC can't force Wiggle's hand, but it sounds to me like CTC should be trying harder. Maybe they don't have the staff to promote their charitable services, merely relying on a passive membership to line their pockets. Pure conjecture of course, but food for thought... Anyone from CTC management care to comment? (Also written on Facebook's 'Where should CTC be going'.)

MarkW
beardy
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Re: Wiggle supports Sustrans

Post by beardy »

I am doubly confused here.

I thought that you were part of the CTC management

and I thought that the Wiggle-CTC contract ended at the end of last year.

As ever I have probably got things wrong.
Psamathe
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Re: Wiggle supports Sustrans

Post by Psamathe »

Selecting a charity to make donations to is about far more than what people think is lapsed commercial relationship (and probably a very minor one). How much of Wiggle's business was through the CTC "shop" ? And how long had the CTC "shop" disappeared from their web site before anybody noticed ?

Charity is not about what you get back from the organisation you are donating to.

I applaud Wiggle's choice of charity. And that is quite apart from the fact that I think the CTC has completely lost its way. Sustrans is definitely a worthwhile choice, is stable, is not alienating it's donors/members, knows what it's aims are and where it is going ...

Ian
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Si
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Re: Wiggle supports Sustrans

Post by Si »

I think that you will find that sustrans doesn't have members to alienate, and that there are currently more people in the sustrans redundancy process than were in the recent CTC one.

That is not to say that sustrans is not a worthy cause...but it is having just as 'interesting' a time as the CTC and it probably relies on the govt for money more than the CTC does so it is sensitive to changes in cycle funding policy.

But there again, grass is always greener.
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MarkW
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Re: Wiggle supports Sustrans

Post by MarkW »

Sustrans is a great organisation; my comment was not intended to be a slight on them.

Mr Beardy (FYI I have a beard too at the moment - very itchy! - but Fiddler on the Roof demands beards - I am the Innkeeper), I retired thankfully over three years ago from CTC; and as for being part of management! I was a simple, 'umble information officer.

As for CTC and Wiggle severing links, I've been expecting this for some while but when I opened the CTC website this morning and clicked on 'shop' up came Wiggle with the entertaining slogan at the top:

CTC - THE UK'S NATIONAL CYCLISTS' ORGANISATION. POWERED BY WIGGLE.
Check it out for yourself: http://www.ctcshop.org.uk/

No, actually powered by people who are sending CTC on the path to eternal insignificance in the minds of many of its loyal members :cry: .
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mjr
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Re: Wiggle supports Sustrans

Post by mjr »

Psamathe wrote:Sustrans is definitely a worthwhile choice, is stable, is not alienating it's donors/members, knows what it's aims are and where it is going ...

:shock: Now I think they are worthwhile and they do lots of good things, but they definitely do alienate donors (criticising them, appealing for donations to do basic maintenance that many believe should be tax-funded, simply failing to answer emails from other cycling organisations, ...), seem rather confused if they're about transport or leisure, and I've no idea whether they know where they're going ;-)

Others have pointed out that they don't have open membership. CTC is still ahead of Sustrans in my opinion, but that's probably because I'm still grumpy that the only signposted (Sustrans-blessed) cycle route from Lynn to Norwich (44 miles by quiet roads) is via Wells and sand tracks (79 miles) and from Lynn to Holbeach (22 miles) is via an awful Wisbech housing estate path (39 miles).
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
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geocycle
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Re: Wiggle supports Sustrans

Post by geocycle »

mjr wrote:
Psamathe wrote:Sustrans is definitely a worthwhile choice, is stable, is not alienating it's donors/members, knows what it's aims are and where it is going ...

:shock: Now I think they are worthwhile and they do lots of good things, but they definitely do alienate donors (criticising them, appealing for donations to do basic maintenance that many believe should be tax-funded, simply failing to answer emails from other cycling organisations, ...), seem rather confused if they're about transport or leisure, and I've no idea whether they know where they're going ;-)

Others have pointed out that they don't have open membership. CTC is still ahead of Sustrans in my opinion, but that's probably because I'm still grumpy that the only signposted (Sustrans-blessed) cycle route from Lynn to Norwich (44 miles by quiet roads) is via Wells and sand tracks (79 miles) and from Lynn to Holbeach (22 miles) is via an awful Wisbech housing estate path (39 miles).



Mmm... if the CTC had designed the NCN it would likely have been better with fewer 'odd bits', but Sustrans actually took the initiative and made it happen. They get my support for that alone and their 'challenge rides' like C2C which are a great way into cycle touring.
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gaz
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Re: Wiggle supports Sustrans

Post by gaz »

MarkW wrote:Hold on a mo! Sustrans are smart enough to have their own shop.

Indeed but I'd largely consider the range of goods available to be "promotional" rather than "comprehensive".

More on Sustrans/Wiggle here.
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John Catt
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Re: Wiggle supports Sustrans

Post by John Catt »

Looks as if Wiggle were looking for a way to promote their "Wiggle Legal" product to cyclists. As the CTC has a competing product there would have been no possibility of a deal with the CTC.
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monxton
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Re: Wiggle supports Sustrans

Post by monxton »

geocycle wrote:Mmm... if the CTC had designed the NCN it would likely have been better with fewer 'odd bits', but Sustrans actually took the initiative and made it happen. They get my support for that alone and their 'challenge rides' like C2C which are a great way into cycle touring.

If the CTC had designed the NCN, it would have been the National Byway. Now there's a really mysterious organisation - a charity, but one which doesn't communicate, and whose mastery of social media makes the CTC look positively modern. I might think it had gone the way of the dodo, but new NB signs still appear, and accounts are still being sent to the Charity Commission. What a pity, because NB routes are way better aligned to the needs of touring cyclist than is the NCN.
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mjr
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Re: Wiggle supports Sustrans

Post by mjr »

Most of the time, the national byway makes the NCN look positively direct and interurban.
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
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