.gif)
The Government says that more than 300,000 school children will learn to cycle ‘safely, competently and confidently’ over the next year, as a result of nearly £11m worth of Bikeability funding.
The funding has been allocated to local highway authorities and schools across the country for the national Bikeability scheme which provides cycling proficiency for the 21st century.
As well as the £11m of grants agreed for this year, a further £24m will be allocated by the DfT over the following two years. This includes an extra £2m to support expansion of the scheme on top of money originally earmarked for Bikeability. Additional local contributions worth around £11.5m are expected over the next three years.
Norman Baker, local transport minister, 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.
“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.”
The big winners across the country this year include Hampshire (£500,000), Merseytravel (£400,000), Kent (£380,000) and Staffordshire (£350,000).
The DfT has also published a report looking at the number of children cycling to school since the introduction of the Bikeability scheme five years ago. In March the scheme celebrated five years of delivering training for children in schools.
The report shows that where there is a longer history of delivering cycle training, a higher proportion of children are cycling to secondary school. Further, authorities that have received higher levels of Bikeability funding have seen larger increases in cycling to secondary school.
Click here to read the full DfT press release, and click here for a full breakdown of grants made by local authority area.
Comment on this story