Nearly 500 Dorset children get bike training in a year
The Council's Bike It Plus scheme's credited with improving cycling rates
470 children in Dorset have had help to learn to ride a bike or improve their cycling skills in the last year, thanks to a Council project.
Bike It Plus sees sessions, funded by the local authority and delivered by charity Sustrans, are taken out to local schools, to encourage more cycling to school safely.
36 schools have benefitted from the programme in the last year, with Bike It Plus officers also running community events, interactive school assemblies, competitions, and breakfasts to help tackle some of the barriers and challenges to active travel.
The scheme's been credited with boosting the number of children riding to classes, with a survey of schools finding over 65% seeing a rise in pupils using an active mode of transport to get to school.
One school in the east of the county reported an increase of nearly 20% in active travel following support from the Bike It Plus project, with 75% of their pupils now walking, wheeling or cycling to school.
Councillor Ray Bryan, Dorset Council’s Portfolio Holder for Highways, Travel and Environment, said:
“I’m thrilled to hear the Bike It Plus project is having such a positive impact on school communities in Dorset.
“By improving cycling and road safety skills, the project has not only provided children with valuable life skills but has also helped families change how they travel to school.
“Swapping short journeys in the car for more active travel like walking, cycling or wheeling has proven benefits for our health and wellbeing, our pockets and our climate. More active travel can also mean quieter and safer roads in our county, especially at school drop off and pick up.”
Bike It Plus has also helped schools to promote active travel in their communities and access local funding to improve walking and cycling facilities at their sites.
Southill Primary School in Weymouth is one of the schools that has received support from the project this year, launching a FRideDay Bike Bus.
The bike bus works like a normal bus picking children up at designated stops along the route.
The project is currently set to run until August 2024.