CTC Cycle Champions
Colchester
Richard Monk is the CTC Cycling Champions Development Officer working on the Colchester Cycling Champions Project, in partnership with CTC Charitable Trust, Colchester Borough Council, Essex County Council, The University of Essex and Mind.
The project aims to encourage the Colchester community to embrace a new active lifestyle and eliminate barriers to cycling. The scheme targets people with mental or physical health problems, learning and physical disabilities, young people at risk of physical inactivity and obesity, lower income groups, ethnic minorities, women and the older community.
Richard has been in post for just two months but has got off to a flying start, coordinating a number of activities:
- A Bike Week town centre launch
- The Special Schools Skills Day, helping youngsters with learning difficulties
- Recruiting non-cyclists for cycle training at community events
- Linking up with a bike recycling charity
The project is already focussing on a number of key activities, working alongside existing on-going projects pursued by community groups in the Borough:
- Access to bikes and regular rides for clients of MIND
- Health referrals linked with Colchester Borough Council Sports Development team
- Mountain biking with University and secondary schools
Colchester is one of only two towns in the country to have a Cycling Champions co-ordinator and to have been awarded Cycling Town status.
CTC Cycling Champions has already built strong links with a wide range of organisations and cycling groups so look out for further initiatives.
The latest development has been the ‘Colchester Workplace Cycle Challenge.
The challenge aimed to encourage people who hadn't cycled at all or very little in a long time to get on a bike and cycle to work or just hop on a bike for a period of time and enjoy themselves. Giving people a short positive cycling experience is a good first step to changing people's perceptions towards cycling and to encouraging them start cycling again. The Challenge also encouraged those people who are currently cycling recreationally to give cycling to work a go.
405 people took part and 18,023 miles were cycled. That's the equivalent of cycling from Colchester to Beijing and back, taking in the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Taj Mahal on route.
106 of the participants either never usually cycle or only cycle once or twice a year.
1,170 litres of fuel and £1,230 were saved by people cycling instead of driving. 1.5 million kilojoules of energy were burnt which is roughly equivalent to 437 pounds of fat, or the total weight of two heavy weight sumo wrestlers!
2,246 cycle trips were made, 1,547 of which were for transport purposes.
Approximately 5,010 kg of CO2 was saved by people who cycled for transport.
For more detail please contact Cycling Development Officer Richard Monk on 07717 724089 or email richard.monk@ctc.org.uk web address www.ctc.org.uk/colchester
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External link: CTC website
External link: CTC Cycle Champions project pages
