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05
Dec 2024
Bike Bus comes to Harrogate
A new scheme that encourages children to cycle safely to school has begun in Harrogate.
Bike Buses involve groups of pupils cycling or scooting about one mile to school, accompanied by parents and carers.
They have been organised in other parts of the country and abroad but the Oatlands Infant and Junior School Bike Bus became the first one to take place locally on November 22. About 60 children took part, despite the temperature hovering around zero degrees centigrade.
The bike bus will run monthly throughout the winter, with an aim to make it fortnightly in the warmer months.
Oatlands parents Hazel Peacock and Ben Mortimer approached Sustrans in January 2024 to get guidance on setting up a bike bus for Oatlands infant and junior schools.
They said in a statement:
We read about the Bicibus in Barcelona which runs every Friday through the streets of the city, along with other bike buses in Glasgow and Wales so we thought it would be great fun and a perfect complement to the other initiatives at Oatlands infant and junior schools.
The scheme is a collaboration between the Oatlands Road Safety & Active Travel Group, Oatlands Infant School, Oatlands Junior School and the FRideDays Bike Bus initiative delivered by Sustrans.
The FRideDays Bike Bus project is an initiative funded by Schwalbe Tyres UK in partnership with Sustrans to enable more young people and their families to cycle to school together.
'Promote lifelong habits'
The Oatlands schools already benefit from a park and stride initiative that encourages pupils to walk to school and the junior school also operates a School Street initiative, which provides a safer environment by limiting traffic speed.
North Yorkshire Sport has funded training for eight parent volunteer marshals who accompany each ride.
Christopher Harrison, headteacher at Oatlands Infant School, said there had been a buzz around the school since the first ride. He added:
Staff and families can borrow bikes from our free-to-use on site bike library and we’ve acquired further funding from Harrogate Rotary Club to purchase a bike rack, tow bar and infant trailer so even more families can take part.
We’re now using the Opening Schools Facilities funding to purchase light up arm bands for everyone who joins the bike bus so we’re extra visible in the darker months.
Estelle Scarth, headteacher at Oatlands Junior School, added:
The bike bus is a fabulous example of the schools and wider community pulling together in the best interests of our children. It is a wonderful opportunity for Oatlands Infant School and Oatlands Junior School to work closely together to promote lifelong habits that will encourage our children to lead healthier lifestyles and look for low carbon alternatives for their daily commute.
Hamish Belding, FRideDays bike bus project coordinator at Sustrans, travelled from Wales to take part in the first bike bus.
He said he hoped Oatlands was the start of a bigger bike bus movement in Yorkshire, adding:
When you ask children in schools, how many of them cycle to school: no hands go up. Yet when you ask how many would like to cycle to school: all the hands go up. There is no doubting that more young people would choose to cycle to school if there was an easier and safer way for them to navigate the increasingly car-dominated environment outside the school gates and within our communities.
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