This year’s Padstow to Rock swim on course to raise over £80,000 for Marie Curie

  • Rock Rail

 

The annual Padstow to Rock swim has its origins in the early 1970s and since 2011 has been raising funds for Marie Curie which provides care and support to people living with terminal illnesses. While pledges are still coming in and the final total won’t be known until September, this year’s swim is on track to raise over £80,000, bringing the total funds raised for Marie Curie since 2011 to over an incredible £550,000.

Rock Rail became one of the event’s main sponsors this year, with its support enabling the provision of professional life guards to help safeguard swimmers as they crossed the estuary as well as providing all swimmers with swimming caps.

Mark Swindell CEO Rock Rail with lifeguards from the Newquay Watersports Centre

An elated and exhausted Mark Swindell said after his swim, ‘Rock Rail is thrilled to be supporting the Padstow to Rock swim as well as the small Cornish village after which it is named. To see so many swimmers up for the challenge and all those who have come to support the swim in aid of Marie Curie is an inspirational sight.”

The event brings the local communities of Padstow and Rock together in an afternoon of swimming challenge, locally produced refreshments and street entertainment. The success of the swim each year is in no small part down to the meticulous planning and organisation of the Padstow to Rock Swim Committee made up of local Cornish residents and the Marie Curie team, as well as many other volunteers on the day.

Next year’s swim date has just been announced … SATURDAY 18 July 2020.  Applications for the ballot will open in the Autumn and more details will be available at this time.

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Driving Net Zero: How Rock Road 
Is Funding the UK’s Bus Transition

Accelerating the shift to clean, affordable, zero-emission transport

Year
2025
Category
Rock Road
Share

The Challenge

The UK bus network is at the heart of everyday travel – but over 30,000 diesel buses still need replacing to achieve a fully zero-emission fleet.

While around 5,000 battery-electric buses are already on the road, the high upfront cost of electric vehicles and depot electrification continues to slow the transition. Traditional funding routes — such as government grants or short-term bank finance – have helped start the journey but cannot support decarbonisation at the scale required.

A new, sustainable funding model was needed: one that could attract long-term capital, spread costs fairly, and give operators and authorities confidence in the future.

The Solution

In 2021, Rock launched Rock Road to deliver exactly that –  applying its proven infrastructure financing approach from the rail sector to the UK’s clean bus revolution.

Working with Aviva, the National Wealth Fund, and HSBC, Rock created a dedicated investment platform that channels infrastructure-style finance from pension funds and institutional investors directly into zero-emission bus projects.

This model provides:
  • Access to billions in long-term private capital for fleets and depot electrification.
  • Low-cost, sustainable finance tailored to public-sector needs.
  • Comprehensive risk transfer, including residual value and battery performance, supported by Rock’s in-house team of engineers and asset managers.

Impact

The platform has already raised £100 million, with capacity to scale to £1 billion per year over the next decade – providing a consistent source of affordable capital for local authorities and operators.

Rock’s model ensures that the total cost of ownership (TCO) of electric buses can now be lower than diesel equivalents, thanks to both cheaper long-term finance and reduced operating costs.

In London, Rock has financed 120 zero-emission buses under 7-year leases aligned with Transport for London’s contract lengths. This structure gives operators flexibility and certainty:

  • Buses can be returned, renewed, or upgraded at the end of term.
  • Lease rates are predictable and capped.
  • Ownership and residual risks sit with Rock, not the operator.

The Future

Rock Road’s ambition is to support the rollout of zero-emission fleets across the UK – helping local authorities and operators meet climate goals without overextending public budgets.

By leveraging limited government funding to attract large-scale private capital – for example, £10 million of public investment unlocking over £250 million in total funding – Rock’s model accelerates decarbonisation while keeping costs low for the public sector.

Our ambition is to make electric buses the default choice - not because of subsidy, but because they are the best economic and environmental option.
Louis Swindell
Commercial Director, Rock Road