The Cycling Embassy is volunteer run, and relies entirely on volunteer donations to support our work. We are therefore extremely grateful to Sally Guyer, of Cambridge Raincoats, who has donated one of her splendid British-made creations to the Embassy to help raise funds (you can read her great blog post explaining why here). Once we'd wrestled it off Jim, who was muttering something about needing it to go with his Dutch bike, we decided to auction it off to the highest bidder by means of a silent auction.
If you'd like to support the Embassy and cycle in style - or enable someone else to cycle in style this Christmas - then all you need to do is submit your sealed bid to us before the 15th of December. Sally will then make sure that it's despatched in time for Christmas to the highest bidder, or their lucky designated recipient. You can bid by email - simply email chair@cycling-embassy.org.uk and put 'Silent Auction' in the subject line - or by twitter, but make sure you use a DM so others don't see what you're offering! Just tweet us to let us know you want to bid and we'll follow you. Include your bid amount, name, and preferred size in the message. In the event of two or more people offering the same top amount, the winner will be chosen at random.
The coat, which normally costs £220, is designed for men, but works equally well for women. Sally can supply any size from small to XXL, and any colour so long as it's Tomato Red. It is highly water-resistant, breathable, windproof and washable with a polka dot lining to make rainy days as fun as possible. It's long enough to keep the wearer’s knees dry without the coat getting caught in the back wheel and features raglan sleeves so arm movement isn’t restricted. Its adjustable button cuffs keep you snug in wet, windy weather, perfect for year round riding.
So get your bids in soon - but if you don't win the auction there are still ways you can get your hands on a raincoat of your own. Cambridge Raincoats will be running a pop-up shop at Somerset House in London from 20th December until 6th Jan next year, and in celebration it's offering a 20% discount on all products sold via its website. It's also running a competition to win a raincoat - details on the website.
And of course, whether you win a raincoat or not, you can always support the Embassy at any time of the year by donating via our Paypal button on the site.