Boost for children’s cycle training
BY BUZZ
More than 300,000 school children across the country will learn to cycle safely thanks to a nearly £11m boost in government funding to the national Bikeability scheme.
Local Transport Minister Norman Baker announced yesterday that funding has already been allocated to local highway authorities and schools across the country. Hampshire has become one of the biggest winners after being allocated almost £500,000 worth of training for children.
As well as the £11m of grants there will be a further £24m allocated by the Department for Transport over the next two years, including an extra £2m to support the expansion of the Bikeability scheme.Norman Baker said “Cycling brings many benefits, and as a government we are keen to encourage its uptake as a healthy and sustainable transport choice, which eases congestion and helps cut carbon.”
He added “It is vital that the next generation of cyclists is well prepared with the skills and confidence to ride safely and well on modern roads and this funding ensures that many more thousands of children will receive the solid grounding to set them up as lifelong cyclists.”
Bikeability provides children with the skills and confidence needed to ride their bikes on today’s roads and has been developed by more than 20 professional organisations including the Royal Society for Preventation against Accidents.
The Bikeability scheme celebrated its fifth year last month and a recent report showed that authorities who received higher levels of Bikeability funding have seen a large increase in children cycling to secondary school.
