activate! 3 draft - university of leeds 3 final.pdf · this issue of activate! a message from phil...
TRANSCRIPT
Inside...
East Lindsey
Active
2
Generation
Active
2
StreetTread 3
Photo winner 3
Mobilise! 4
Middlesbrough
Active People 4
Active Lives
Healthy People 5
Wheels for All 5
Wales; Scotland 6
Spotlight on
TravelSmart 7
Events in 2009 8
Sustrans
Internal News
Document
Activate! Active Travel news update December 2008 (issue 3)
Mark Curr who joins
Active Travel as
Active in Ashington
Project Co-ordinator
during Mary Lockie’s
maternity leave.
I’m sure you’ll join us
in welcoming Mark
and wishing Mary all
the best for the
transition from bump
to baby!
And a warm
welcome to... Christmas is
traditionally a
time for
looking back,
and 2008 has seen our
programme of Active Travel
practical projects across
England, Scotland and
Wales come of age.
I hope Welsh and Scottish
colleagues will forgive me
concentrating just now on
the Big Lottery funded
English projects. To get all
ten projects so solidly
established, so quickly, has
been a really great
achievement, and puts us
right in the front line of
programmes promoting
healthy living.
Congratulations, and thanks,
to all of you.
Sustrans’ practical projects
– including the National
Cycle Network, Bike It,
TravelSmart and others as
well as Active Travel – give
us complete credibility; they
show us acting and not just
UTravelActive in Leeds has had a fantastic year; the
project has recruited a full
team now, with Project
Manager Lisa Brannan at the
reins, based at University of
Leeds and Sian Bell
supporting her from the
Sustrans Leeds office.
The project saw the launch of
the Velocampus bike hire
scheme on 16th September,
coinciding with the Active
Travel National Conference at
the University. At the launch
members of the Leeds
University Union Exec and
Leeds Met Students'
Union Exec tried out the new
Velocampus bikes. The
launch generated some very
favourable press coverage
and many students and
others became aware of the
scheme through this publicity.
Following the launch of the
scheme came Freshers Fairs
at both universities, meaning
an extremely busy few
weeks for the team
issuing bikes to students.
However, the hard work paid
off and now the bikes are seen
all over Leeds, with a large
proportion of them (all 100 at
Leeds; 43 at Leeds Met)
hired out already.
Next year the team will roll out
a taxi and bus driver cyclist
awareness scheme, visit local
schools to talk to the pupils,
introduce cycling confidence
and maintenance
programmes for students and
staff, work on improving the
local infrastructure for cycling
and walking and increase the
fleet of Velocampus bikes for
2009
talking. So everything we
do, right up to our
contributions to UK and
national policy, stands on
the work of our project staff
and volunteers.
Looking ahead, I’m excited
by the prospects for 2009,
building on our strengths,
continuing to support each
other and sharing best
practice. To that end I hope
you enjoy reading about
your colleagues’ work in
this issue of Activate!
A message from Phil Insall, Active Travel Director
Supported by
Registered Charity
No. 3
26550 (E
ngland and W
ales) S
CO39263 (S
cotla
nd)
Project:
UTravelActive
Project Officer:
Sian Bell [email protected]
Top: Lisa Brannan gets a handle on
one of the new Velocampus bikes;
below: branded stickers for security
and visibility
Sian’s highlight of the year:
“Definitely the Velocampus
launch and seeing the students
on their bikes around the city.”
Leeds students snap up Velocampus bikes
Alex’s highlight
of the year:
“This has got to be 33
walkers turning up on a
cold, wet and windy day
to walk around the
beachfront of Skegness.
I can honestly say that I
expected nobody to turn
up, so to achieve one of
the highest levels of
attendance that day really
hit home that people are
onboard with what we are
trying to achieve and best
of all, enjoying it!”
Page 2
Connecting with the local community
As 2008 draws to a close
for the first year of East
Lindsey Active it is exciting
to see that the enthusiasm
for the project from all
those involved is still as
high as it was on day one.
After two successful trips
to a local nature reserve,
home to one of the largest
seal colonies in the
country, the East Lindsey
Active walking groups are
looking forward to what
2009 has to offer.
Comments from the group
about the trip to the nature
reserve and other walk
locations are very positive.
Many of the walkers who
have lived in the
community for some years
were not even aware that
these places existed.
One group member
commented: “Without
East Lindsey Active and
the walking groups I
would never have
ventured this far from my
front door on my own. It
has shown me parts of
the community that I
honestly didn’t know
were there.”
With the weekday
walking groups attracting
new faces each week,
Alex is looking to build on
this success with a new
weekend group. With any
luck, this will help attract
new people who aren’t
able to make the
weekday walks due to
work commitments
This year Nichola worked
intensively with the staff and
students of Rossendale and
Accrington College to
deliver a cycling initiative.
As a result, the college now
owns a fleet of bikes and up
to 30 members of staff have
trained with Nichola as
volunteer cycle leaders.
Students who started as
participants in led bike rides
have also taken up the
opportunity to access cycle
leader training.
Nichola says: “The buzz
around the college with
regards to cycling is
fantastic. When we first
piloted this initiative we had
no idea how it would be
received, but staff and
students alike have really
embraced it. Our aim now
is to maintain the
momentum. I’ll also be
working with the college to
help them achieve Green
College status.”
You can now read the full
case study online — see
box to the left for the link
Nichola’s highlight of the
year:
“It’s been a busy and exciting
year in Hyndburn and
because of this it is difficult to
pinpoint one highlight.
However, one factor has been
apparent in all groups that I’ve
worked with and always
manages to put a smile on my
face. This is the
improvements made by all
participants who’ve regularly
attended rides. There is
nothing better than seeing
people improve in confidence,
self-esteem, fitness and
health. It is the biggest buzz
that you can achieve in our
line of work – knowing you’ve
made a real difference.”
Accrington College? Who are they?!
Activate!
Project: East
Lindsey Active
Co-ordinator:
Alex Woollen [email protected]
It’s not just people getting active,
the canine population of East
Lindsey wants in on the action too!
Accrington
case study
Read full details at: http://tinyurl.com/5tvpyk
Project:
Generation Active
Co-ordinator:
Nicola Honey [email protected]
Page 3
On the 1st November
StreetTread held the Big
Bike Celebration at
Riverside Park to celebrate
the opening of part of
National Cycle Network
route 23 and boost cycling
levels across the city.
Despite atrocious weather,
300 attendees were wowed
by spectacular stunts from
M.A.D mountain bike
display team, opportunities
to try out alternative bikes,
led bike rides, cycle skills
training, a bike-powered
smoothie maker and free
health checks for their
bikes and themselves! The
event was also supported
by the Mayor and
Mayoress of Southampton
who are pictured above
taking a turn on the man-
powered car, and the Chair
of Active Southampton.
• TV’s Dom Littlewood
entertained the residents of
Kellett Road during the first
day of filming of the BBC
documentary 'Can
Southampton Go Car-
Free?'. There was a real
sense of community spirit
once the road was closed
to traffic and everyone got
used to standing in the
middle of it, chatting,
passing round tea and
toast and trying out
different sorts of bikes. The
residents have been using
4 of StreetTread’s pool
bikes to travel actively.
The show is due to be
broadcast from 23-27
February 2009 between
9.15am-10.00am
Your photography: ‘And the winner is…’
Rain fails to dampen Big Bike celebrations Natalie’s highlight
of the year:
“Probably the St Mary’s
Community Festival in
July. It was wonderful to
see the children's
enthusiasm for cycling.
The 29 young people
who took part loved the
challenge. So many of
them didn't have their
own bikes, and it
showed me how much
could be done by
convincing parents that
cycling is a life skill, and
that children begging for
a bicycle for Christmas
is a positive thing.
There's so much
potential out there.”
Activate!
Project:
Get Moving
North Tyneside
Co-ordinator:
Emma Spence [email protected]
Project:
StreetTread
Co-ordinator:
Natalie Gledhill [email protected]
Clockwise from top-right: the Mayor and Mayoress of Southampton join the fun;
wet but happy local kids; a M.A.D stuntman shows how he earned that name!
Image of the Issue
Congratulations to Emma
Spence who wins a bottle
of Champagne for this
great snap of a boy giving
the thumbs-up to an On
Ya Bike cycle skills day.
Emma is pictured (left)
bringing some seasonal
cheer to a recent winter
wonderland event,
dressed as an elf.
Page 4
Helping to walk and ride the road to recovery
Mobilise! is enjoying a
rewarding partnership with
Gwellheans, the Redruth
based centre for those
recovering from substance
misuse.
Every other Thursday Euan
takes a number of their
clients on discovery cycle
tours along the trails around
west Cornwall. Mobilise! and
Gwellheans have collected a
number of free second
hand mountain bikes and
these will be refurbished in
a new purpose-built shed
being built at Gwellheans
by clients. Cycle
maintenance and leisure
rides will soon be officially
part of the Gwellheans
timetable, thereby
promoting both physical
activity and technical skills
development.
Mobilise! is also in the
process of having its
website entirely redesigned
to bring it up to date. A
University College
Falmouth student dodged
Activate!
Project:
Mobilise!
Co-ordinator:
Euan Mahy [email protected]
the Autumn downpours to
capture a gallery of images
of walkers and cyclists
enjoying themselves in the
great outdoors despite the
usual Cornish mizzle. The
shots will go towards
creating a visual and friendly
site which will include blogs
from Mobilise! members
Top: a rare dry outing on The Camel Trail;
above: strolling back the years in the more
usual Cornish ‘mizzle’
Euan riding out with Gwellheans clients
In November Paul ran a
cycle maintenance class
for pupils at Caldicote’s
school in East
Middlesbrough, which was
a great success with 27
pupils receiving top tips on
how to make safe and
maintain their bikes. The
day also included a bikers’
breakfast, Dr Bike session
and raffle.
Further activities will take
place in January next year
with another two local
schools that are keen to
join in with the project.
Following requests from
the children’s parents and
other locals, Paul also
looks forward to running
‘build a bike’ maintenance
courses and ‘cycle safe’
cycle skills courses at a
local community centre.
Kids (and grown-up’s!)
attending the community
cycle safety class can
also get tips on pulling
the perfect wheelie
although as Paul
explains, “I may need to
practice a bit more myself
as I managed to fall off
last time, which gave
great amusement to
onlookers but rather
dented my pride”
Paul (almost) shows kids how to pull a wheelie
Paul’s highlight of the
year:
“A mums and toddlers
organised ‘Bear Hunt’ walk
through a local park ended
with a reading of the story
‘We’re going on a bear hunt’.
Lots of mum’s and kids
turned up and to see the
kid’s faces when they finally
discovered the bear living in
the woods was priceless.”
Project:
Middlesbrough
Active People
Co-ordinator:
Paul Morrison [email protected]
Local mums and kids at the ‘Bear Hunt’
Caldicote pupils escape the classroom
for some two-wheeled fun and training
Page 5
The Luton team is rapidly
expanding following recently
confirmed additional funding
from Luton Primary Care
Trust. Chris and Sarah would
like to officially welcome
Kathy Smith to the team.
Kathy has been providing
voluntary support to the
Luton office for some time,
and has now been
appointed Office Assistant.
Other project news includes
the development of a bike
loan and cycle training
package for students in
partnership with the
University of Bedfordshire and
Luton campus chaplaincy. A
number of successful diversity
walks have also been
delivered to students.
PhD student Haider Al-
Khateeb who has received a
loan bike, explained: “I am
an international student
from Iraq and will be
returning to my home
country when I've completed
my research. I can’t afford to
purchase a new bike and
using a Sustrans loan bike
Olympic presence at Wheels For All launch
In July this year, Andrea
was joined by 200m
paralympian Graham
Ballard and the Mayor of
Chorley to launch a new
‘Wheels for All Centre’ at
Tatton Recreation Ground.
The Centre offers a wide
range of bikes for all ages
and abilities, including
hand cycles, quads,
tricycles, tandems and
wheelchair linked cycles.
Since the launch, the
adapted bikes available
have been extremely
popular amongst a number
of groups including
Bernardo’s Children,
Bankside and Trieste
Learning Disabilities
Centres and Holydale Care
Centre. Andrea has
recently trained
representatives from these
groups to become Wheels
for All leaders, so that they
can run sessions for
themselves, which is
essential to ensuring that the
initiative is sustainable
Growing Luton team working with Beds Uni
Activate!
One of Wheels for All’s adapted bikes being put through its paces at the new centre
Project:
Active Lives,
Healthy People
Co-ordinator:
Sarah Leeming [email protected]
means that I can cycle
during my time here at Uni
and then return the bike for
another student to use”
Sarah’s highlight of the year:
“The opening of the Luton
Bike Recycling and Active
Travel Centre.”
Project:
Wheels For All
Co-ordinator:
Andrea Muirhead [email protected]
Top: it wouldn’t be a proper opening
without the local mayor on a bike, so
here’s the proof; above: a local fun day
with Galloways Society for the Blind -
see http://tinyurl.com/58utw7 for more
University of Bedfordshire students
accessing the bike loan scheme and
cycle training in November
The Active Lives, Healthy People team
outside their Luton HQ, left to right:
Sarah Leeming, Kathy Smith, Chris
Wilkinson, Terry Colver, Richard Noon
and Andy Knight
Page 6
Helping new riders become cycling champions
Robyn has recently started
to teach cycling skills to
three local women who
work in office-based jobs
at New Tredegar Healthy
Living Centre and are keen
to start cycling. They are
totally new to it, so the idea
is to ease them in and give
them skills and confidence.
These women are trusted
local figures, and Robyn
hopes that they will
become cycling champions,
spreading the word about
their positive experiences
across New Tredegar so
as to generate interest in
the open beginners cycling
sessions he is planning for
after Xmas.
• Robyn continues to run
his regular walking and
cycling sessions in the park.
He is now working with a
new group from St. Teilo
House Independent
Psychiatric Rehabilitation
Hospital. The group join
in sessions along with
their support workers and
enjoy walking and
cycling. Some choose to
use the two-seater bike,
so that they can share
the cycling experience
together.
• One of Robyn's
volunteers who has been
supporting his activities
for some time has now
gained permanent
employment as a Health
Support Officer. This is
great news for Steve and
he’ll continue to support
Robyn where he can
Robyn’s highlight of the
year:
“The highlight has to be
seeing new people
overcome barriers that
they never thought
possible before becoming
involved in the project. I
see people gaining better
health, confidence and
self esteem through social
interaction.”
The past couple of months
have been busy with Get Active, Getting There! initiatives. The University
of Stirling has
implemented a number of
measures including an
online student travel
survey, route user surveys
and an active travel audit
around campus in
collaboration with Living
Streets. It has also set-up
a Bike User Group and has
recently launched its Cycle
to Work scheme.
Michael Chambers from
Estates and Campus
Services at the University
said: “From our
perspective it's been great
to join forces with
Sustrans to roll out a
number of active travel
initiatives. The project has certainly helped to raise
awareness across the
University of the benefits
of active travel, and I am
confident that, over time,
we will see a change in
travel behaviours to and
from campus.”
At the University of
Edinburgh the initiative is
focussing on three areas
of development – cycle
training, communication
and the auditing, mapping
and signage of
connections between four
main campus sites.
Finally, in North Perth,
members of the Active
Travel Partnership
Steering Group have
developed a
comprehensive
community engagement
strategy to involve local
residents, schools, service
providers, employees,
businesses and others in
activities centred around
wayfinding, promotion
and improvement of a
local path known as the
Lade
Doing some Stirling work with the university
Activate!
Project: Active
Travel Scotland
Co-ordinator:
Fiona Miller [email protected]
Project:
Bike It,
Walk It
Co-ordinator:
Robyn Hughes [email protected]
Sandy’s highlight of
the year:
Project:
Active Travel,
Cardiff
Co-ordinator:
Sandy Booth
“Going on a ‘night ride’
with the Sports
Council-funded Bad
Bikes project to help
young people learn
about safe cycling in
the dark. And seeing
the Active Travel
Workplace Toolkit [see
Latest Publications,
page 8] finally printed
after the five-
hundredth draft!”
Read on...
Find out more about
TravelSmart and all the
latest developments at:
www.sustrans.org.uk/
travelsmart
Page 7
Spotlight on: TravelSmart
What does TravelSmart
do?
TravelSmart works with
households to offer tailor-
made information and
support, allowing people to
walk, cycle and use public
transport more often. This
delivers measurable
reductions in car use, by
enabling people to switch
just a few day-to-day trips
to more sustainable and
active forms of travel –
when and where it suits
them best.
When did TravelSmart
start?
The TravelSmart approach
has been proven in
successful applications
across the world, involving
a total of more than 3
million people. In the UK, a
total of around 315,000
households have been
targeted in 21 pilot and
large-scale projects
conducted since 2001.
Sustrans’ current
programme includes
Exeter, Watford and
Lowestoft, each targeting
25,000 households over
the next three years.
Who do TravelSmart
work with?
TravelSmart works in
partnership with
Socialdata, an
international social and
travel research
consultancy, which has
pioneered the approach
in Germany, other parts
of Europe, Australia and
the US over the past 20
years. Like Active Travel
projects, TravelSmart
also work closely with
local authority partners.
What has it achieved?
Projects have achieved
relative reductions in car
driver trips of 6% to 14%,
with increases of 5% to
45% in walking and 14%
to 75% in cycling. Recent
evaluations have shown
increases in exposure to
active travel of 7 to 28
minutes per week on
average across the whole
target population
The TravelSmart team,
recently completed
reports on in-depth
surveys of travel
behaviour in Exeter,
Lowestoft and Watford,
where they are running
projects as part of the
Active Travel
Consortium.
The research, for which
over 4,000 people were
surveyed, revealed the
huge potential for
reducing car use through
relatively small and
simple changes to
people’s daily travel
patterns. In these two
towns and one city,
cycling, walking and
public transport provide
practical alternatives for
up to 54% of local car
trips.
The vast majority of car
trips are within the town
or city and of these
around 40% are under
two miles, a distance
that could easily be
travelled by most people
on foot or by bike. But
people are often unaware
of local transport
options, even those on
their doorsteps. That’s
where TravelSmart
comes in
And the latest news from TravelSmart...
Activate!
Project:
TravelSmart
Co-ordinator:
Rob Wall [email protected]
TravelSmart is based on a
process known as Individualised
Travel Marketing, informing
people of their local travel options
“40% of
journeys are
under two
miles, a
distance that
could easily
be travelled
by most
people on
foot or by
bike.”
Information is key for promoting
more active ways of travelling
Latest publications
• The next issue of Active
Travel News, due January,
takes a look at the Higher
Education sector playing a
crucial role in the promotion
of healthy living and
encouraging children to be
active through play and
travel.
• Issue 8 of Active Travel
Cymru News is now
available. A Green Exercise
special, reporting on
Sustrans’ Active Travel
Workplace toolkit, BTCVs
Grounds for Health and
Groundworks Pedal Power.
• The latest information
sheet, Active travel and
health inequalities
reviews academic
evidence regarding the
benefits of physical activity
for people in the most
deprived communities.
• Following the recent
publication of the Why
Walk? information booklet,
Active Travel’s APT TO
(Active Travel and Play:
Tackling Obesity) project
team is publishing its own
Why Play? booklet as part
of the same series with
lots of great play-related
facts and figures.
• A new Welsh Active
Travel Workplace Toolkit
acts as a practical ‘how to’
guide for employers to
implement changes that
will get more people
commuting to work by
healthier means. An English
version will be produced in
spring 2009, but you can
view the Welsh toolkit at:
www.activetravelcymru.org.uk
All the above publications
are available to download
from:
www.activetravel.org.uk or
email:
Welcome to Alice
who joined us
recently as Project
Assistant
January
Cancertalk Week 19-23 January
Big Schools’ Birdwatch 19-30 January
February
National Storytelling Week 31 January-7 February
National Heart Month 1-28 February
Stress Down Day 6 February
International Childhood Cancer Day 15 February
Student Volunteering Week 23 February-1 March
March
Great Daffodil Appeal 1-31 March
International Women’s Day 8 March
World Forestry Day 21 March
Sustrans cards
Left buying your Xmas
cards to the last minute?
Order yourself a pack of
Sustrans cards... fast!
Staff pay only £2.00 for
a pack of 6 and there’s
two great designs - see
above or the main Sus-
trans webpage.
Contact Chris Nelson: [email protected]
or 0117 915 1101
Calendar of upcoming events - which can be linked to project activities
Active Travel National Programme update
Page 8
New Active Travel
publications
Activate!
Clockwise from top-left: Active Travel
news; Active Travel Cymru News;
Active travel and health inequalities;
Why Play?
www.the-evidence.org.uk The latest research on the health benefits of active travel