Cycling: the fitness mode of transport

Stoke-on-Trent City Council has been doing its bit to support cycling. The council has embraced the Department for Transport’s (DoT) extension to the Cycle Demonstration Town programme. In June 2008, Stoke became one of 12 places to be granted the status in the programme’s second wave.

Cycling in schools

Burnwood Community School’s PE lessons are a bit different from the norm. Alongside the traditional pursuits, such as football and gymnastics, pupils at the Stoke-on-Trent primary school can cycle. But this is hardly surprising, given the school’s facilities. These include a mini-velodrome, BMX track and mountain bike trail.

The tri-track has been developed over the last three years, thanks to funding from a variety of sources. This has included government grants, city council funds and private sector donations. Burnwood has also bought a pool of more than 50 bikes for children of all ages to use.

Deputy Head Teacher Emma Wickham says:

“We have always been keen on cycling. For years we have got as involved as we could with the Cycling Proficiency courses and I guess it has just grown from that. The children really enjoy it. They are so enthusiastic and it is a great way to get them active. In fact, we have found the PE lessons have been really popular among those children who do not normally like sports.”

Cycling to school

The success can also be seen through the number of children cycling to school. Just five years ago there were hardly any. Now, during the spring and summer terms, there are 50 to 60 pupils who cycle to school regularly.

And the promotion of cycling looks set to continue. As part of the ‘Bike It’ initiative, the school is getting support from the Sustrans charity to run training sessions. There are also organised rides intended to integrate cycling into the curriculum.

Wickham adds:

“There are lots of things we can do. We can use wheels and spokes in maths lessons, and look at the history of the bike. I think it is a great way to make it interesting and relevant for pupils.”

Community-wide cycle routes

But the Burnwood school is not the only place in the city where cycling has been embraced. For the past decade or so, the city council has been supporting cycling through promotional campaigns and investment in cycle routes.

The council threw its hat in the ring when the DoT announced an extension to the Cycle Demonstration Town programme. In June 2008, Stoke became one of 12 places to be granted the status in the second wave of the programme.

The council was given just under £5 million by the government to become a national beacon for cycling by 2011. This is the second highest ‘pot’ after Bristol. The council has agreed to match that funding and is now investing it in a range of projects under the Cycle Stoke banner.

Old and young involvement

One of the most imaginative is a scheme for two local retirement villages. In partnership with Age Concern, the council has equipped the sites with 10 cycle lockers. These come complete with bikes and accessories for residents. Training sessions have also been run. There are now about 20 pensioners, some in their 80s, regularly using the bikes.

Kerry Lawler, from Age Concern, says:

“It helps give residents the confidence to get back on a bike and is proving very successful. The bicycles are in demand with many residents now going out on their own or with friends or family.”

Other schools have also been supported. The council is in the middle of an ongoing programme to build and improve cycle storage. About a quarter of Stoke’s 100 local schools have benefited so far. With help from its army of hired instructors, Stoke has also increased the number of children it trains under the nationally-accredited Bikeability course. This has increased from a few hundred a year to more than 2,500.

Organised rides are also regularly hosted and have proved to be particular popular with families. Meanwhile the 25 ‘confidence camps’, which have been run to get adults back in the saddle, have been full.

Cycle route maps

The investment in cycle routes is continuing as well. The city already had 135 kilometres of routes by the time it was given the Cycling Demonstration Town status. This is partly thanks to regeneration funds it received. They were used to develop paths alongside the area’s extensive canal network. Over the next two years, the council aims to use about £3.5 million of government funding to improve and link up the existing routes. It will also create up to 10 kilometres of new ones.

To promote the network, the council has published more than 130,000 maps which have been sent to every household in Stoke. There are also plans to create a dedicated website to detail what is available.

John Nichol, the council’s Transport Planning Manager who oversees Cycle Stoke, says:

“It is really pleasing to see what has happened in schools in particular. There were some where no-one cycled and now they have shelters for 30 to 40 bikes and they are full.

“We have found that cycling appeals to all ages – you just have to give them the opportunity. For some it is about keeping fit, for others they do it to save money and then there is the benefit for the environment. It does not really matter to us what the reasons are – we just want to see it continue.”

Meeting targets

Stoke-on-Trent has ambitious targets. It wants to more double the number of journeys made by bike so that they account for four per cent of all local journeys.

Ray Hughes, the West Midlands Regional Travel Adviser, is optimistic:

“The progress being made by Stoke has been impressive – it has really snowballed from the early days. It just goes to show what can be achieved when you have committed individuals and a council willing to go for it. You need support to improve infrastructure, but also the imagination to promote cycling.”

Contacts

John Nichol, Transport Planning Manager
Stoke-on-Trent City Council
telephone: 01782 236 178
email: john.nichol@stoke.gov.uk

Emma Wickham, Deputy Head Teacher
Burnwood Community School
telephone: 01782 235 577
email: burwoodpri@sgfl.org.uk

Useful links: where to find out more

Page published January 2010.