Harold on tour

Posted 24.02.2017

Make’s Cycle to MIPIM team had been looking for ways to raise money for children’s charity Coram, the official charity of the ride, and was thinking of producing and selling 3D-printed cartoon figurines to be mounted on cycle handlebars. After discussions with Coram and event organisers Club Peloton, though, it was decided that we would instead print figurines of Coram’s puppet mascot, Harold the Giraffe, and give one to each ride captain to display on their handlebars during the ride. It would be a perfect opportunity to help Coram increase its visibility during the event.

After deciding on Harold’s dimensions, we worked with specialty 3D printing shop iMakr on computer-modelling the geometry. The first five prototypes, printed in-house at Make, were successfully tested on a training ride to Brighton, after which we did the next 20 for the ride captains – plus one for a Coram trustee who’d specially requested one. With each Harold taking one hour to hand-paint, we were lucky to have a number of volunteers help bring him to life.

The Harolds will be presented to Coram before the riders depart on 9 March, at which point each Harold will be proudly displayed on the ride captains’ handlebars for the duration of the 6-day, 1,000-mile ride to Cannes. Riders and supporters can chart and follow his journey using the hashtag #HaroldOnTour.

Coram is an incredible charity, so we at Make, along with our friends at Club Peloton, are thrilled to be able to help them like this. We encourage everyone to get involved and help make Harold famous!