ParkCloud Joins Forces With Q-Park to Champion PARK(ing) Day Initiative

Leading online parking reservation provider, ParkCloud, has partnered with European parking operator, Q-Park, to champion creativity through parking as part of international event – PARK(ing) Day.  

Driving one of the leading projects in the UK, both ParkCloud and Q-Park decided to use their respective influence in the industry to pioneer a CSR initiative that showcases young artistic talent, giving students the opportunity to experience live briefs that take them away from the context of the classroom.  

Students from a number of schools and colleges across Greater Manchester in the UK have signed up to take part in this year’s project, which will see them create a painted concept around the theme of ‘Manchester and urban mobility’ in the setting of a parking space. 

Following a first round of entries from each participating school and college, each artwork will be reviewed by a panel of judges – which includes the iconic street artist behind many Manchester street murals, Russell Meehan, aka Qubek. Once a shortlist has been agreed, each student will be invited to recreate their designs at the grand finale, which will take place on PARK(ing) Day itself (21^st September) at Q-Park’s First Street car park in Manchester city centre.  

Under the watchful eye of the judging panel, the students will battle it out to win the main prize – £500 contribution towards their further education, a tech prize bundle and winner’s certificate. There is also an additional £250 prize up for grabs for the winning art department.  

Originating from San Francisco in 2006, the drive behind PARK(ing) Day – which is celebrated annually on the third Friday of September - derives from the need for more open, creative space within urban areas; with ‘parklets’ now appearing in cities all over the world each year in a salute to creativity.  

Mark Pegler, Managing Director at ParkCloud, said: “Working within the parking industry, we can appreciate how many dimensions there are to the parking experience that many people do not consider on a day-to-day basis. Bringing a project such as this to life, with the help of our partners over at Q-Park, brings new context to parking and helps create thought-provoking conversations around urban mobility within our communities.”  

John Denton, Head of Sales & Marketing at Q-Park, commented: “Built-up, urban city centres rarely offer the opportunity for the community to get involved with creatively revamping public spaces - especially for local students - so we’re extremely pleased to be championing PARK(ing) Day alongside ParkCloud in Manchester this year.” 

Two of the volunteer colleges have already completed their first round of artworks, as they now wait in anticipation for the rest of the school and college entries to be completed ahead of the shortlist announcement in September.  

Following the final paint, ParkCloud - which is currently nominated for Best Airport Parking Operator in the British Travel Awards - will be hosting an exclusive event to celebrate the culmination of the PARK(ing) Day project and its own 10-year anniversary.  

About ParkCloud 

ParkCloud, simply put, lets drivers book a parking space in advance, in the same way as it’s possible to do with hotel rooms, restaurant tables…and even a coffee these days.

When traveling, parking is usually the last thing on anybody’s mind, but research shows that as much as 20 minutes is wasted when searching for a parking space. ParkCloud aims to solve that problem by letting customers make a parking booking, whether they are getting on a plane, taking a cruise, catching a train, or visiting a city or event.

ParkCloud was founded in 2008 as an online parking reservation service and within the 10 years, we’ve been operating our success and growth has been rapid.

Today we are an award-winning, global provider, working with car park operators across 42 countries to include them on our comparison search engine, which aims to give consumers the most user-friendly, efficient service possible when they need it most.

This bookable parking network is also made available to travel industry partners to help complete the itineraries of passengers worldwide.

Winner of Queen’s Award for International Trade

For more information, visit http://www.parkcloud.com

About Q-Park

Q-Park is an international parking company, focused on value development by providing high-quality services in purpose-built parking facilities and off-street parking at strategic locations. Q-Park's activities focus on providing services related to parking at targeted locations: in or near multifunctional inner-city areas, at public transport interchanges and at hospitals. We supply services that fulfil customers’ demands, and their need for convenience, reliability and hospitality.

Q-Park arrived in the UK in 2001 and is now one of the UK’s leading car park companies with 60 car parking facilities housing some 50,000 parking spaces in key locations in the UK with over 15 million visitors every year. (Including Aberdeen, Birmingham, Cardiff, Croydon, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Nottingham, Reading, Sheffield and York.)