Pupil pedal power all year round

It’s Cycle to School Week, and pupils from a local school will now be able to benefit from pedal power all year round with a new cycle shelter, thanks to Active Travel England funding awarded to Cheshire West and Chester Council.

A large number of pupils from St Werburgh’s and St Columba’s Primary School in Chester already cycle to school regularly and they are now able to protect their bikes from the weather, thanks to the new cycle shelter.

Cheshire West and Chester Council was awarded funding for a number of projects, including provision for a cycle shelter grant for the school.  To support the funding bid to ATE, the school completed hands up surveys and registered their data into Modeshift STARS.  The surveys showed that more than 10% of pupils are already cycling or scooting to school, and over half of pupils would like to.

The Council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Environment, Transport and Highways, Councillor Karen Shore said:

“St Werburgh’s and St Columba’s Primary School does lots of activities to promote walking, scooting and cycling. I am so pleased we were able to offer the school a grant as part of our funding extension from ATE.

“The school is near the Pink Cycling Route where we are planning to upgrade a junction later this year, which will make it even easier for pupils to cycle in to school.  We hope to use this project as a case study to monitor increases in active travel by pupils and their families – and would ultimately like all schools to do this.”

Sarah Jackson, School Business Manager at St Werburgh’s and St Columba’s Primary School, said:

“A huge thank you to the Council for supporting the application for a bike shelter for our school. We have a large number of children who cycle to school each day, dry storage will encourage more families to come to school on their bikes.

“We hold regular cycle to school weeks with overwhelming success. During these weeks children have come to me and said how much safer and quieter the road outside school is. As a school we are keen to encourage healthy lifestyles and look after our environment.”

Modeshift STARS is the Centre of Excellence for the delivery of effective Travel Plans in Education, Business and Residential settings. The scheme recognises schools, businesses and other organisations that have shown excellence in supporting cycling, walking and other forms of sustainable and active travel.