Autumn 2008 report
Bike It General Round-up 80
Bike It gets results The most recent Sustrans survey involved 89 schools and over 19,000 children. The number of children who never cycle to school has now fallen from 75% to 55%. The number of children who cycle regularly is now 26% with 8% of children now cycling everyday at Bike It schools.
How often do you cycle to school?
70
% of pupils
60 50 40
75
30
Before Bike It After Bike It
55
20 10 0
4 Never
8
Everyday
10
18
7
13
Once or Once or twice twice a week each term
Source: Sustrans, 2008 Note: Data based on hands-up surveys of around 19,000 pupils, asking the question “Do you cycle to school?�
4
6
Once or twice each year
Winter Competition This year was a chance for children to design a flag. Dozens of schools took part. The overall national winner was Cameron Straughan of Ryton Junior School, Gateshead. He wins a brand new bicycle very kindly donated by Islabikes. Amaranta Williams of Dallas Road Primary, Lancaster also receives an Islabike. Runners up receive Sweetskinz tyres, children from Crompton Primary school, Southwark, Sir Frank Whittle Primary Coventry, Weston Turville and Aston Clinton schools in Aylesbury, Whinfield Primary School, Darlington, and Roman Road Primary, Gateshead. Winning design will be made into flags.
About Bike It Bike It is a Sustrans project that is enabling many thousands of children to cycle to school everyday. It does this by helping schools to make the case for cycling in their school travel plans; supporting cycling champions in schools and demonstrating that cycling is a popular choice amongst children and their parents; and, most importantly, giving children the skills and information they need to cycle so their parents can have the peace of mind to let them. Each Bike It officer works with up to twelve schools for at least a year to create a positive cycling culture that continues long after the Bike It officer has finished with them. If you would like to find out more about Bike It, please visit the Bike It project pages of the Sustrans website at www.sustrans.org.uk/bikeit Bike It is made possible with the ongoing support of the Bike Hub and additional funding from organisations such as the Big Lottery Fund, Transport for London, Cycling England, the Welsh Assembly Government, NHS Primary Care Trusts and many local authorities.
Regional Round-up
Autumn 2008 report Page 2
South East Ashford In Ashford David Robert had great success with over 140 pupils and their parents cycling in for a Bike It Breakfast day at Kingsnorth Primary attended by Olympic gold medallist Jamie Staff in November in spite of cold, overcast weather. The event received local press attention. Jamie Staff has become the patron of the newly formed Ashford Young Person’s Cycling Club.
Slough, Sth Bucks Be Safe, Be Seen events were very popular in Slough and South Bucks. One event at Our Lady of Peace Junior School attracted 105 pupils, 3 members of staff, 40 parents and 8 siblings. Aylesbury Through the Sustrans Links 2 Schools cycle parking grant scheme Aylesbury school Weston Turville successfully bid for a grant of £8329 whilst Aston Clinton school received a grant for £4200. Michael also successfully bid for An Awards for All grant of almost £6,000. Reigate and Banstead High levels of bikes were counted at Reigate Priory Junior School on three separate non-event days, including almost 14% of the school cycling in on a cold, rainy day in September. Over 100 parents and children rode to St. Anne’s Primary school on a crisp autumn day to launch the start of their first year of Bike It and to celebrate having their smart, new cycle storage for 40 bikes.
Brookside Primary School
Brighton and Hove Over 36% of Somerhill Junior school cycled in for a Bike to School breakfast maintaining the great cycling momentum in Brighton. St. Pauls Primary have 2 yr 4 girls that have ridden in 200 times each and they are not even 9 and have no cycle training!!! Brighton and Hove schools are piloting the Bike It School Mark, a system aimed at helping schools sustain their cycling culture.
Olympic champion Jamie Staff gets behind Bike It
South West Bath and NE Somerset, Bristol Gloucestershire Bristol in combination with South Gloucestershire was awarded the Cycling Demonstration City status. With the Bristol Primary Care Trust they are jointly funding four Bike It officers, covering Bristol and part of South Gloucestershire, a ground-breaking development. To date the team have contacted over 90 potential Bike It schools.
Sam Pickard originally worked for us in Aylesbury and after a short spell with the Woodland Trust has rejoined us as part of the Bristol team. Emma Mather is concentrating on the Bristol area after handing Bath and NE Somerset over to Jim Imeson who started in December. Wansdyke Primary school ‘Light and Dark day’ was very well received with approx 80% of pupils taking part.
Ben Bowskill started as one of the four Bike It officers for the Greater Bristol Cycling City project in November. Ryan Evans also started last term. With other BIOs he has started getting materials together for a secondary school Citizenship resource pack. We hope to produce a series of lessons on a sustainable transport theme available to secondary schools.
A BMX show at Beechen Cliff School in Bath
Swindon Ruth James has seen Isambard Community School double in pupil numbers, but still maintains 50% of the pupils cycling, despite inadequate storage. Exeter Emma Osborne takes maternity leave in the Spring term and we wish her good luck. Liesbeth Kop originally from Holland takes over for the maternity period and we welcome her to the project. Bournemouth and Poole Jason Falconer transferred to this post from Luton/Bedford St Albans in November. This project is entirely funded by the local PCT, Jason is developing his relationship with the councils and getting his schools on board.
Regional Round-up
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East Midlands Derby Anna Singleton replaced Dave Clasby as the Bike It Officer for Derby. In the latest survey 48% of pupils are now cycling regularly and almost 60% would prefer to cycle to school as opposed to only 5% wishing to travel by car. Leicester Coldecote Community Primary demonstrated good levels of cyclists on non-event days between September and December. The number of children cycling everyday has doubled and is just under 7% of those children surveyed.
Lincoln A Dr Bike Session at Fosse Way Primary in November was very popular, attracting 42 pupils, 8 members of staff, 25 parents and 15 siblings, and A Cycle Maintenance Session in October and a Brighten Up Day in November proved popular at Westgate Junior School who also had their new cycle storage installed.
West Midlands Birmingham Perry Beeches school’s newly installed cycle storage is already oversubscribed regularly so the head teacher is actively seeking further funding. Woodview Primary school also increased their cycle storage through Big Lottery funding. Four bike shops are now involved offering discounts for Bike It school children and parents on purchased bikes, bike accessories and servicing as well as maintenance sessions for parents and offering mechanics at reduced rate to run Dr Bike sessions. Coventry George Matthews returned from a serious illness but has reluctantly made the decision to leave Bike It. We wish George well and good health, and we look forward to seeing him help out as a ride helper! Meanwhile Andy Adkin who started in November arrived at the Christmas “Bling your Bike day” at Pearl Hyde Community School anxious about how many participants would be there. He was amazed by the number of bikes and the quality of the entries. The local press were invited by the school, and the competition made Page 5 of the Coventry Evening Telegraph.
Getting into the festive spirit at Pearl Hyde Community School
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Regional Round-up Yorkshire and Humberside
Carcroft Get It Bright competition day
Since the last report Sheffield City Council together with the Bike Hub and Cycling England have funded a Bike It project. The new officer Ruth Chiatt is now in place and we welcome her to the team. No sooner had we done that then Sheffield learned they were successful in their bid for Healthy Towns Status funding. So we are now recruiting a second Bike It post, and that will be filled this term. Doncaster Meanwhile in Doncaster Jim’s schools took part in the Commuter Challenge. It was a simple idea (a multimodal rushhour race into the centre of Doncaster with the intention of demonstrating the usefulness of sustainable transport). The real success of the Commuter Challenge wasn’t the fact that the bike won (although Jim was very pleased that it did!) but the way that it brought so many people and organisations together and got them enthused about Bike It. Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council now intends to run a series of
Commuter Challenge events from different locations into the centre of Doncaster. Media coverage was good, with a mention on several websites, pieces in local newspapers and Borough Council publications, and a slot on local radio. Several of Jim’s schools
have had, and have been preparing for, inspections by OFSTED. This has made it difficult to get into a few schools, and their attention was understandably elsewhere, a regular occurrence.
North West A popular activity amongst pupils at Florence Melly Community Primary in Liverpool
Bury Andy found Holly Mount School challenging. At the top of a steep hill, with a very narrow, single lane road for the only access. The first Bike to School Breakfast saw nearly 20% of the whole school on bikes plus some parents. Stockport and Rochdale Nes Brierly placed emphasis on high visibility and road safety in her schools. Little Heaton has a parents group. Many of the parents at the school are lone mothers who have little experience or knowledge of bikes. Nes is helping them and organising their children to attend after school clubs to avoid distractions. Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton Ian’s afterschool clubs in Knowsley, Sefton and St. Helens
were a popular activity, with a regular group of pupils attending events. Eaves Primary School had 34% of their children cycling in October club. Lancaster Kathy continues her good work. Almost 14% of Moorside Primary School cycled in on a windy, overcast non-event day at on October. Bolton-le-Sands had almost 59% of the school cycling on their Bike It launch. Liverpool, Wirral 81% of children never cycled to school prior to Bike It, that figure has dropped to 46% Learn to cycle and ‘Learn to cycle in one hour’ sessions at Liverpool schools were well attended throughout the term.
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Regional Round-up North East
Getting into the swing of it at Fellside Primary
Emphasis this term on safety and security. Bike It officers in the North East ensured schools had stocks of lights and locks children and parents could buy at very reasonable prices. Gateshead and South Tyneside 23% of the school cycled into a “Bling Yer Bike” event on a very cold and icy December day at Roman Road Primary. Stabiliser-free sessions at the primary schools in October and November were popular. Alan’s highlight this term teaching the smallest child in Fellside Primary School to ride his bike without stabilisers. In all he taught 54 Fellside children to ride and the best bit was seeing the delight in the faces of the kids and the amazement of the parents. Hadrian Primary school celebrated the opening of their new bike shed with the help of a grant of over £7,600 from Sage. Darlington Claire worked with the School Travel Plan Officer to plan activities allowing local
school children to be involved in the stage start of the Tour of Britain. In total over 600 local school children were involved and were present at the event. The majority of the children attend Bike It schools. Bikeability level 3 trained pupils lead the riders out of the town centre. Teeside – Stockton and Middlesbrough Brighter Biker Days were popular with Teeside schools. Debbie organised
decorated bikes competitions, fashion parades, lessons with years 5 and 6 on reflective materials and prizes for the brightest bikes and pupils. The days were really successful aiming at being safe on the journey to school. Beauty and the Bike has also been launched in Ian Ramsey Comprehensive and the Kings Academy. Debbie also secured £7,000 funding to support the project from the Stockton Primary Care Trust!
East of England Pupils at Icknield High School
Luton, Bedford, St. Albans Jason Falconer transferred to the Bournemouth and Poole project. In his place is Richard Noon, and we welcome him to the project. He has linked up with Luton Borough Council, British Cycling, the local Cycling Club, and the County Sports Partnership to provide the basis for a sustainable cycling culture in Luton Schools the partnership approach has already made the National Cycling Press. Harlow, Cheshunt Meanwhile Hertfordshire and Essex County Councils have combined with Cycling England and the Bike Hub to fund a project covering Harlow and Cheshunt areas. Tom (Bart) Smith has taken up that post and we welcome him. Gt Yarmouth At the same time, Norfolk County Council have combined with Great Yarmouth and Waveney Primary Care Trust to fund the first Bike It project in Norfolk. Covering Gt Yarmouth that post will be filled in the Spring term.
Regional Round-up Wales
London Marina Littek is driving the Bike It School Mark project with schools in London. In between working with schools in the Boroughs of Havering Newham and Lambeth Andy Casson somehow managed to get the time to organise the next big national competition, we had the Tour d’Afrique and now we’re going round the world! Starting in March 140 schools have signed up and it could be a big event. The materials and resources are being prepared so any school wanting to compete just contact your Bike It officer. Georgie Fyfe-Jamieson had 50 children cycling to their Bike It Breakfast at Hampstead School in October, and was absolutely thrilled with the Cycle To School day at Parliament Hill school, hugely rewarded by
Autumn 2008 report Page 6
the smiles on the faces of the pupils, all of whom had cycled to school for the first time that day. James Scott working with the Borough of Tower Hamlets feels the biggest success to date is gaining more funding from the council and investing it into cycle training. The Borough and the PCT have allocated additional money to be spent on pool bikes for each Bike It school. Holly Bruford worked with Hackney Borough Council to agree £38,000 funding granted to host family cycling clubs in Bike It Schools in Hackney up until September 2009. Her End to End Challenge meant her schools 13 schools got involved with over 200 pupils cycling everyday.
Louise Powell has set in place quite a few links with external agencies, these include Tredz a local bike shop that has given discounts to her bike it schools and one of their Bike It begins its mechanics is running bike journey in Wales checks for her schools. At Bryn Primary school 54% of the pupils attended a Bike It Breakfast event on a very windy, rainy and cold day in November. She also organised the Bike It Launch in Wales – with the assembly minister officially launching at one of her schools – The school were fantastic with children speaking about what they had achieved through bike it already. There was great publicity through BBC Radio Wales, Swansea Wave and local newspaper coverage. The Christmas bike ride with Pontrhydyfen Primary, was an amazing day. Children of year 5 and 6 and parents rode to Afan Lodge with decorated bikes singing Christmas tunes the whole way to Afan lodge who freely provided hot and cold drinks with treats homemade mince pies and a yule log. On top of that Santa distributed presents. Everyone had such a great positive day, with teachers and parents all hugely pleased with the event. Mike Murphy has now fully engaged with schools in Conwy and feels that he has been fully supported by the road safety team and response from the schools has been favourable.
About Sustrans Bike It is delivered by Sustrans, the UK’s leading sustainable transport charity. Sustrans’ vision is a world in which people choose to travel in ways that benefit their health and the environment. We work on practical, innovative solutions to the transport challenges facing us all. To find out more about Sustrans or to become a Sustrans Supporter please visit www.sustrans.org.uk or call 0845 113 00 65. Sustrans, 2 Cathedral Square, Bristol. BS1 5DD. Bike It is supported via the Bike Hub. The Bike Hub is a cycle industry initiative developed by The Bicycle Association of Great Britain and the Association of Cycle Traders to generate funds to support the future of cycling in the UK. Independent cycle retailers and companies are contributing to the Bike Hub fund, which is investing in major projects to encourage more cycling, particularly among young people. Registered Charity No. 326550 (England and Wales) SCO39263 (Scotland)
Supported by:
as well as many local authorities and NHS Primary Care Trusts.