Sheffield-based merchants of steel Cotic have picked two very worthy causes to support for 2021 via the Cotic Trail Fund.
Trash Free Trails and Tweed Valley Trails Association get the backing of Cotic via their Trail Fund for 2021.
Read the full press release below.
Photo by Rich Baybutt.
Something you might not know about Cotic is that if the business hits certain financial targets, we put some money into our Trail Fund to support advocacy groups. In the past we have put money into renovating a local pump track, right up to putting thousands of pounds into the original Crowdfunder pot for the Blue Steel trail at Lady Cannings Plantation in Sheffield. So far we have kept it pretty local, but for 2021 the Trail Fund is full and we are branching out a little further.
We have supported Trash Free Trails in kind right from the start. Founder Dom Ferris approached us back in 2018 when he wanted a tough, durable, fun bike for doing some big rides to raise awareness and get the ball rolling. He road the Oregon Timber Trail and some other huge adventures aboard the Cotic Solaris he still owns. Have a read of that first trip. It’s a tonic considering the current British weather.
Photo by Rich Baybutt.
We 100% support and endorse what TFT are trying to do, and this is their Mission:
Trash Free Trails is a community-focussed, non-profit organisation; a positive, inclusive call to arms for riders, runners and roamers alike.
We exist to protect our trails and the wild places they take us, and we’re starting with litter (aka – Plastic Pollution).
Our mission is two-fold; both inextricably linked:
To reduce plastic pollution on our trails and wild places by 75% by 2025.
To (re)connect people everywhere with their ‘wild selves’ through purposeful adventure.
For 2021, Trash Free Trails are Power By Cotic Bikes. We have invested money and will continue to support them with time and resource to help them in their mission to rid our trails of trash.
We recently supported their pilot Trashmob initiative up in Leeds, and their current Autumn Litter Watch campaign is great. Check out the video below. Get your Autumn Litter Watch Kit and get involved.
Our second donation went to the Tweed Valley Trail Association. The Golfy and the trails of the Tweed Valley are about my favourite anywhere in the world, and a lot of the staff at Cotic feel the same. The TVTA are all about maintaining those trails and making the valley even more awesome for mountain bikers, and we couldn’t help but want to get behind that.
TVTA has the following objectives:
TVTA’s purpose is to maintain and improve the mountain bike trail network in the highly regarded mountain bike destination – the Tweed Valley.
A significant proportion of the existing trails are not currently maintained by an official organisation.
There is also currently a lack of organised community engagement with official stakeholders and land managers.
TVTA aims to be a vital and positive link between the local mountain biking community and the various organisations managing the forests and facilities in the region.
With the growth of mountain biking in the Tweed Valley the trails have begun to require additional maintenance.
The growth of the trail network is also crucial to the area’s local economy, while also making living in the area more attractive to locals and improve local engagement in the sport.
The group aims to enhance the experience of mountain bikers in the valley and visiting the area by making the trails safe and sustainable into the future.
Having safe, marked and maintained bike trails, and multi user paths are important recreational facilities for experiencing the outdoors and promoting activity and a healthy lifestyle, which in turn improves the conditions of all of our lives.
If you have been up to the Golfy at any point in the last year, you’ll have probably ridden the fruits of TVTAs labour on New York, New York amongst many others. It’s great to be able to get behind them and put back into the trails we love so much.
If people want to donate too, then click on the link here.
I hope you approve of our choices, and are happy to know that some of the cash from every Cotic bought is going back into the sport.
