Clerkenwheels
A cycling, podcast, fundraising adventure from Plymouth to Clerkenwell for:
One warm Wednesday night in May, somewhere in Clerkenwell, two industry friends came up with an idea: let’s cycle from Plymouth to Clerkenwell for the start of Design Week. We could chat to some people on the way, look at some good stuff and raise a bit of money for charity. And here we are, in the cold light of day, a couple of months later, trying to bring everything together and create an adventure for the whole commercial interior design industry to share in, at least once. And maybe every year after that.
Our two friends first met at St Pancras International more than five years ago to board the Eurostar to Lille. One an experienced interior designer keen to learn more, the other a marketer looking for expert insight. With the tentative hello out of the way and the cossetting seats of Premier Class (these boys know how to roll) underneath them, they quickly absorbed themselves in bike chat and jumped off at Lille with a friendship made in gear ratios and gradients.
Podcaster, Lecturer and Interior Designer, Jonathan Forster has spent over three decades in the industry. With his passion for design, work with the next generation as Award Leader and Lecturer at University of Plymouth and through his podcast, Multi Story Thinking, Jonathan is a champion of the interior design industry.
Creative director and advocate of truth in the field of sustainability, Tom Bourne co-heads a marketing agency that has been specialising in the flooring and commercial interiors sector for more than 25 years. As he prefers a life away from the fluffy microphones of podcast fame, Tom is playing the domestique role and will be shoving Jonathan’s bidons up his jersey.
The journey begins in Plymouth, some 240 miles from the glittering lights and window displays of Clerkenwell. Along the way, our pedalling podcasters will take a daily stop to chat with people from across the design and interiors industry. The results will be broadcast in a special series of video episodes for Jonathan’s Multi Story Thinking podcast.
Based somewhere loosely between Plymouth and Clerkenwell as the crow flies, we’re looking for design studios, manufacturers and makers that specialise in commercial interiors.
Your space must be able to accommodate a small amount of portable studio equipment and have a low-noise area for recording. Of course, Jonathan and Tom would be happy to have you join them for a few miles on the route beforehand or after – the original idea was for an ‘on bike’ podcast – or simply meet them at your studio and wave goodbye as the push themselves off into the sunset.
Clerkenwheels will be a feature series in Jonathan's Multi Story Thinking podcast that unravels the mystery of interior design. Episodes feature colour expert Justine Fox, Jessica Long and Alicia Nelson of Nelson and Long, Simon Hamilton, Daniel Heath, Naomi Cleaver and others.
Our pair will be turning their cranks over in support of diversity in the industry. As two middlish-aged white men, they are only too aware of they need to encourage a new generation of interior designers (or podcasters, or marketers) from across diverse cultural, social and economic backgrounds into the industry.
As each hard mile passes, and each bead of sweat undoubtedly falls; Tom and Jonathan will take comfort knowing that their effort to reach Clerkenwell in time for Tuesday will be doing some genuine good.
Jonathan and Tom will be cycling in support of United in Design's Education and Outreach Programme to transform the lives of 10,000 young people across the UK.
This programme tackles one of the creative industry’s biggest challenges: too many talented young people are shut out of careers simply because they don’t know what’s possible or how to get there. Through a classroom facilitated programme, we aim to achieve:
Introducing young people to the world of interiors and creative careers to close the knowledge gap.
Equip young people with the tools to plan their future and build creative skills to close the gap.
Connect young people to real world workplaces and professionals to establish a network with diverse outreach.
‘Let’s raise £100k – go big or go home,’ said Jonathan. So, this 240 mile, five day adventure will see the pair doing their best to raise £100,000 to be invested directly into the foundation of the programme. Our adventurers would be chuffed to receive any contribution to helping them get close to Jonathan’s big kahunas total.
We'll focus on outreach in areas with the highest need and lowest access to the creative industries to support 10,000 young people. These include places with high levels of students on free school means and low participation in creative education, right across the UK.
DonateYou can support our cycling chums in more ways than one with our sponsorship packages:
Follow our intrepid adventurers on their journey to Clerkenwell as they post news, training updates, podcasters and more on United in Design:
United in Design Charitable Trust is a Registered charity in England and Wales No. 1192413