Plymouth Sportswoman Nicola Noble Crowdfunds Her Way to the Great British European Championships

Thanks to her determination and supporters, cyclist Nicola Noble is set to represent Great Britain in the Sprint Duathlon at the European Championship 2015. The athlete raised more than she needed with the help of Crowdfunder UK and Plymouth University.

The second year occupational therapy student qualified to compete at the championships in Alcobendas, Spain,, but unfortunately faced the additional funding challenge to get her and her bike to Spain, along with the essential kit, maintenance and training.

That was when Plymouth University advised Noble to attend a Crowdfunder UK worship, where she learned more about Plymouth University and the crowdfunding platform teaming up to help fund projects.

Noble explained, “I didn’t know what crowdfunding was but I thought I’d go along to find out, and I spoke to the Crowdfunder-in-Residence on the Plymouth campus.”

Although initially unaware of how crowdfunding could help, Noble attended another workshop and spoke to more people about her campaign. She was able to see there was potential to succeed and quickly set up a crowdfunding campaign.

Within just 12 hours, Nicole’s crowdfunding campaign quickly raised her initial goal and ended up raising enough to pay for her registration, kit, airfare, and even transportation for her bike to compete at the Championships.

Heather Forster, Plymouth University’s Crowdfunder-in-Residence stated, “The workshops have been well received at the University by both staff and students, and this is an example of how they, and the wider public can benefit. Crowdfunding is available to everyone in the community and provides an opportunity to raise funds for almost anything.”

Along with the support and advice she had from her crowdfunding mentor at Plymouth University, Nicola says the strong social network she has built up in the local sporting community and the support from the university has helped make her campaign a success.

Noble added, “Thanks to the support of the crowd I will be representing Great Britain at the European Championships in April so a massive thank you to everyone.”