Wolverhampton pedal down CO2 emissions
A three-week cycle challenge run by Wolverhampton City Council has saved 37,900 car miles and 8,500 kg CO2 emissions in Wolverhampton.
The Wolverhampton Cycle Challenge saw over 700 people from 40 organisations getting on their bikes between 7th and 29th September 2009, including just over 200 brave people who got back in the saddle after more than a year.
The winning teams were those who got the highest percentage of staff to cycle for 10 minutes or more over the three week Challenge period. The top teams were:
Carillion (Corporate Category)
Building department, Carillion (Very Large)
Sunrise Senior Living (Large)
St Patricks RC Primary School (Medium)
Star and The Crescent Children’s Centre (Small)
Materials department, Goodrich (Very Small)
The main aim of the challenge was to encourage more people to hop back on a bike and remember the joys and benefits of cycling. Incentives and prizes helped encourage people to take part, with prizes donated by Hateley Cycles, Fred Williams Cycles, Halfords and Leisure Lakes Bikes.
Kerrie Parkes, Workplace Travel Plan Co-ordinator at Wolverhampton City Council, said: “There is great potential to improve the health and well-being of staff by encouraging them to cycle more. The Challenge has been a great way of reaching people, helping them to realise the benefits of cycling and giving them the encouragement they need to make cycling part of their lives.”
Star and The Crescent Children’s Centre, winner of the ‘Small’ category, have realised that cycling is the solution for travelling between their Children’s Centres. Wendy Richards McGrath, Co-ordinator at the Star, said: “We have difficulty parking in all bases, plus we could almost walk between them except it takes longer and we often have files and laptops to carry, so I investigated the use of cycles... my whole team are committed and three have set targets to learn to ride a bike. We would also like to train two members to take parents out on cycles with their children. Thank you for inviting us to join the challenge!”
The Challenge Co-ordinator, Louise Pearson, said: “When people get back on a bike and they experience what it's actually like to cycle, they realise it isn't as hard or scary as they thought but it's actually quite fun and easy. It’s very encouraging that so many people in Wolverhampton have been inspired to cycle for the Challenge. If more people start cycling it has great health and cost benefits for the individual, but also helps to reduce congestion and pollution for all of us.”
The programme was funded by the CTC, the Big Lottery Fund and Wolverhampton City Council. For more information, visit www.wolverhamptoncyclechallenge.org.uk.
Published by: Travel Actively on Monday October 05 2009
