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ROAD SAFETY &
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National and regional press releases in reverse order with the most recent first
Festival upset for instructors14.29 - 02 July 2008 The contract to run the event was awarded to two firms from Manchester, much to the disappointment of local cycling instructors who usually get involved with the festival. Wendy Creed, the first independent instructor to achieve Bikeability status in the country, is one of many based in the county. She, along with several other Cornwall based instructors had agreed to get involved with a bid by another company to run the event, however it was always agreed that they would work with whomever was awarded the contract. A tender document published by the county council stated that it was “desirable” that local instructors should be involved with the event. However the council awarded the contract to Bike Right and Pennine Events – a joint bid by companies based in Lancashire. Wendy said: “We are really upset that the county council has decided to employ a company from way outside the county to run this event. The bidders were required to name the personnel they would be using to run the event so they were perfectly aware that at least one other company bidding for the contract would be using Cornwall based instructors." “The company who won the contract has brought all their own people from up country and not used any local instructors. The whole point of this, is that had local instructors been used, the budget that will have been used to accommodate the out of county instructors, could have otherwise been used for example, for a three day taster session with Wheels for All, for the 4 special needs schools here in the county and other associations such as that of the Deaf and Blind Associations based in Truro instead. ” In a statement the county council said: “We are aware of Wendy Creed's concerns and have arranged to meet with her to discuss the issues she has raised. The tender opportunity for the festival was advertised on the Tenders in Cornwall website in accordance with the county council's contract procedure rules and therefore was open to all, including local suppliers. “Although the advert for
Expressions of Interest did refer to the fact that in previous
years locally based workers had been used and that this was
desirable where possible, it was not a requirement of the tender
specification and did not form part of the assessment criteria.
The tender documentation clearly set out that the selection
would be made on the basis of the most economically advantageous
offer in terms of both cost and quality and as such the contract
was awarded to Pennine Events in association with Bike Right.”
Cycle training with Doubletrees SchooL 15.00 - 22 May 2008
14 pupils at Doubletrees School have had access to cycle training, as a result of a grant that has been given to Cornwall’s Schools Sports Partnership from the Youth Sports Trust. £80,000 has come into county and been split between the 4 Schools Sports Partnerships that cover Cornwall. As a result, 14 pupils from Doubletrees have been able to have Bikeability Level 2 training – the new national training scheme taking cycling proficiency into the 21st century. Instructor Wendy Creed from Road Safety & Cycle Training said ‘I am delighted to have had the opportunity to work with these students. It has been extremely fulfilling and they also have enjoyed themselves. I am currently working with Ian Tierney who is the founder of ‘Wheels for All’ and we are hoping to be able to open cycling up to everyone with special needs in whatever shape or form, within the county. The instructors who will work with 'Wheels for All', the location and the premises are already in place, now it is just a question of funding the project and bringing in the specially adapted bikes so that there are no exceptions to the rule whatsoever. I have already approached Lady Mary Holborow about it and like us, she believes this is a good idea., she also hopes to open the centre in the fullness of time subject to previous engagements and royal commitments. There is no doubt it is the way forward and I have to say, it is these students’ individuality that puts the ‘special’ into special needs yet so often it creates fear and as a result they are not given the opportunities that the rest of us have, which is wrong. It is a shame that it cannot be incorporated into the Festival of Cycling at the end of June/beginning of July - that had been our hope and our specially invited guests would have included students from Doubletrees, Nancealverne, Pencalenick, Curnow and Foundation students from Truro College as well as other associated charities such as MIND, the Cornish Blind Association and Mencap day centres however once again, it seems that it is not to be.' Ian Tierney from the Cycling Project said “We are excited to have the opportunity to expand the 'Wheels For All' network. We are always thrilled to encourage new participants in an activity that is fun and healthy. Cycling can be adapted so that everybody has the opportunity to engage with other community groups. There is currently no centre for disability cycling in Cornwall, this centre is a fantastic opportunity for the area.”
BIKE MAD MUM PEALS INTO TOWN
A mother of two has successfully completed a sponsored bicycle ride from John O'Groats to Lands End raising hundreds of pounds for local charities together with a fellow instructor from Wales. On her way down to the most westerly point in England, Cycling Instructor Wendy Creed, escorted in by Pat Smith and Janie Cooksley, (the original local End 2 End girls on their own anniversary of them setting off themselves two years ago,) briefly stopped in Newquay to meet mayor Cllr. Patrick Lambshead and other supporters at the Sports Centre. "I wanted to stop in Newquay because I've worked with Newquay Juniors now for over 18 months, going over a couple of time a week", the keen cycling instructor explained. She continued: "I help other local schools with cycling too and Newquay Juniors are considering putting cycle training back onto their timetable come the new academic year, as part of their PE lessons which is fantastic. As a keen cyclist, I thought that if I was going to take on this challenge, it made sense to do it for charities such as Children's Hospice South West." Mrs Creed, aged 50, says the length of the mainland Britain 'wasn't a bad ride at all'. She said "we did an average of 50 - 55 miles a day and were on the road for 19 days although we did stay with friends on the way down. It was an amazing ride with only two horrendous days when it was cold, wet and miserable but there were also a couple of days when we use our helmets to play ping pong with the hail!" The websites where you can donate are: www.patchadams.org, www.justgiving.com/tcpreciouslivesappeal and www.justgiving.com/cycleend2end
BREAKDOWN, THEFT AND THE LACK OF A WELCOMING
COMMITTEE DID NOT DISPIRIT CYCLISTS
"However we were joined by Si Rollett
and Billy Ward who like myself, are both students on the Sports
Science Access course at Truro College with Roj Knight of the Bike
Barn, Ian Oats from Penzance and Amy O'Loughlin and Laura Marshall
from Exeter, who are also instructors joining us. Paul and
Jules Rollason of Mackrelbus Graphic Design in Falmouth acted as our
welcoming committee., Paul having done the JoGLE himself in 2005."
CYCLING: WENDY CLOSE TO FINISHING LINE OF 1,000-MILE RIDE Date : 02.04.08
Two cycle instructors who set off from
John O'Groats three weeks ago are due to pedal into Cornwall today
and will be stopping in some of its main towns. Wendy Creed,
from Truro, and Milly Marsh, from Wales, are getting near the end of
their 1,000 mile ride for charity. They are due to arrive at
Camelford at around 4pm today after cycling down from Barnstaple.
BURST TYRE AND PETROL LEAK
WON'T PUT OFF CYCLING PAIR
A burst tyre, a
petrol leak, the theft of their satellite navigation system and
having to get the RAC to break into their back-up van because the
keys were locked inside, are just four of the problems that have
faced two cyclists who are heading to Cornwall for charity. Those local cyclists who join them during their ride through Cornwall and the south west, will be doing so raising money for the Precious Lives Appeal which now has it's own JG page at http://www.justgiving.com/tcpreciouslivesappeal
CYCLING
INSTRUCTORS IN 1,000-MILE CHARITY RIDE
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Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall Lady Mary Holborow will be on hand to formally introduce the project which aims to provide all year five and six children with bike training by 2009.
Joanne Parkington, who set up the Anthony Lord foundation after her son was killed following a collision between a car and his bike, welcomed the event.
She said: "I am campaigning to make safety training compulsory for all children under 14 and this will help towards that aim. If we can save just one life then that would make it all worthwhile. One of the biggest problems we have is with kids not wearing helmets either because they don't have them or think they are not cool."
A demonstration of Bikeability will take place at Tretherras School and children will be given the opportunity to try out the crazy bikes.
Among the supporters of the scheme is Channel 4 news presenter Jon Snow who is president of the UK's national cyclists organisation, the CTC.
Mr Snow said: "I am hugely enthusiastic about cycling and there's hardly a day goes by when I don't ride. I therefore want to play a part in making cycling safer and more accessible and getting more young people riding safely."
~ ENDS ~
Released 24th May 2007
BIKEABILITY GOES LIVE IN THE SOUTH WEST
Road Safety & Cycle Training and it’s MTB Division welcomes the initiative
Road Safety & Cycle Training, it’s Mountain Bike Division and the Antony Lord Foundation wholeheartedly welcome the 21st Century version of what most parents will remember as Cycling Proficiency and will be hosting the Cornish launch of both Bikeability and the new CTC Mountain Bike Training Scheme, in the presence of the Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall later in the year.
It is hoped that funding for all schools in the county will also be confirmed to be as in place for the new academic year by the Cycling England Chairman, Phillip Darnton - the launch will also have a Fun Cycling Challenge element to it for the children who are already involved in the demonstration and we will also have a Dr Bike facility available too.
Joanne Lord of the Antony Lord Foundation said: "Given how both the nature of both roads and cars have changed, Bikeability is so much more appropriate., cycling is so much fun and I’m just sorry that I left it so late to get onto a bike myself, so that I could be part of our annual Memorial Ride on or around the anniversary of Antony’s death, doing something that he not only love so much but died doing because of a lack of training having been available in the past years."
The training is especially important given that recent research from Cycling England shows a 50% decline in cycling in the space of just one generation. Whilst over half (51%) of mums questioned say they did their Cycling Proficiency or cycled regularly to school as a child, now only a quarter (25%) of today’s children have received formal cycle training, and 91% never cycle to school. The main reasons cited by parents are fears around safety, although statistics show children are less likely to be involved in an accident while cycling than they were 10 years ago.
Steve Garidis of Cycling England said: "RSCT who are based in Cornwall were heavily involved in the 6 month ‘gearing up’ process to prepare for the national launch of Bikeability. It was important for us to have an idea of how the needs of an independent instructor would differ to those of an established organisation. RSCT was selected to be involved because of Wendy Creed’s obvious commitment to quality cycle training and her work with the Antony Lord Foundation and we would welcome more instructors like her becoming part of the Bikeability award scheme."
Wendy Creed, Principal Instructor for RSCT said: "I was amazed when the request to gear up came but was only too happy to be involved. The children that I have worked with during that period were all excited about being part of the new process too and the parents whom I’ve worked with, are all very enthusiastic about the whole process especially now there are three different levels so that all age groups can participate, it is no long just for those about to go to senior school! The nice thing about Bikeability is there are no age limits., my youngest clients were aged 5 and my eldest a wonderful lady who is 60 years young and within 2 hours, despite having never even sat on a bicycle before, had gained her Level 1 certificate."
Steven Rowsell, CTC accredited MTB Instructor said: "Having geared up with Hertfordshire County Council myself, is primarily the reason Wendy and I are going into a working partnership. It is important that children know how to both read and ride the roads safely so that they can get to the many trails available around Cornwall. I look forward to working with them in both disciplines, in the not too distant future.
Meanwhile as a result of her work with the foundation, Wendy was recently presented with the CTC Volunteer of the Year [2006] Award for the SW Region in Guildford by Jon Snow, who is the newly appointed CTC President and we hope in the future, to work with another instructor from London bringing Inner City children down on holiday too, which has come about as a result of that particular award ceremony."
Cornwall was one of the areas which took part in the pilot where more than 10,000 badges were awarded in six months and over 80% of training organisers and instructors said they saw an increase in the number of children cycling to school after participating in Bikeability. Three in five (60%) parents whose children undertook the Bikeability training say they are now more positive about their children cycling on the roads.
More information about Bikeability can be found online at www.bikeability.org.uk . Also information about RSCT is available at www.rsct.org.uk , it's MTB Division at www.CornwallMTB.co.uk and the Antony Lord Foundation at www.antonylordfoundation.org.uk
- Ends -
Bikeability GRANT INFO AND HOW THE Funding
will workCycling England working with Road Safety and Cycle Training to bring funding for Bikeability into Cornwall
At the request of Cycling England,
Road Safety and Cycle Training are
working with all the Partnership Development Managers for the
Schools Sports Partnership in the county, collating the information required for the funding of Bikeability
training, with the aim of making it available to schools in Cornwall who are
interested in the project.
Although some schools are fortunate enough to have Local Authority Volunteer Instructors available, it is only open to children in Y6 . Unfortunately, even then there are still areas where the Local Authority scheme has limited reach. (Bikeability has 3 levels and is open to all ages)
This funding and Bikeability training opens it up to all children – currently run in Newquay it works running Level 1 training over 4 or 5 sessions depending on the season with Year 3 and Year 4 pupils in the playground, building their
bike control skills so they are prepared for on road training and capable of being able to look behind and signal etc. as will be required of them in real terms out on the road.Level 2 is basic on road training, through the school is restricted to Years 5 and 6 which is the age group that Cycling England are aiming to reach, (although it doesn’t stop parents of those who have completed Level 1, commissioning an instructor to run a course independently of the school). Parents then pick up the baton for Level 3.
Once the information has been collated as to how many schools are interested in the scheme, the information will then be fed back to Steve Garidis at Cycling England and it is they, who is seeking to roll out its pilot project with the Youth Sport Trust (who manage the partnership network) so that Partnership Development Managers are given grants to distribute in their School Sports Partnerships.
They in turn, will be free to commission freelance trainers themselves or work with the local authority or both. We are hoping to get this in place for the new academic year 2007-2008 and to be able to announce it as such at the launch (which also includes the CTC’s new off road 3 tier training scheme too), later in the summer.
Representatives from all the schools who are interested in becoming involved, are invited to attend but please advise the name[s] and school represented to the address below or email w.creed@rsct.org.uk as this is an ‘invitation only’ event with a registration deadline of Monday, 25th June 2007 latest.
The launch will be in partnership with Philip Darnton, Chair of Cycling England, Rob Fuller, CTC Cycle Development Manger and a representative of the Cycle Training Standards Board and Lady Holborow, Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall amongst others.
The DfES have confirmed that it is acceptable for cycle training to take place during PE lessons, this can be found in the FAQs for LEAs, Schools (Govenors and Teachers) and SSPs on the Bikeability website, http://www.bikeability.org.uk/downloads/FAQs LEAs Schools.pdf in the 'Q & As' section which follows on from 'Core Message'.- Ends -
Released FRIDAY 4
MAY 2007 
BIKEABILITY GOES LIVE IN THE SOUTH WEST
Exeter welcomes introduction of 21st Century cycling proficiency
The biggest change in cycling training for decades is launched in Exeter today as part of a national roll out to get children back on their bikes. Ben Bradshaw, MP for Exeter and Minister for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, announced the start of the Bikeability scheme at St Nicholas Catholic Primary School in Exeter. Cycling England is working with Devon County Council to deliver Bikeability to provide children in the South West with the on-road skills they need to handle modern traffic conditions. By giving children the skills they need to manage 21st century roads it is hoped that 20% of all children in Exeter will be cycling to school by 2009.
The training is especially important given that recent research from Cycling England shows a 50% decline in cycling in the space of just one generation. Whilst over half (51%) of mums questioned say they did their Cycling Proficiency or cycled regularly to school as a child, now only a quarter (25%) of today’s children have received formal cycle training, and 91% never cycle to school. The main reasons cited by parents are fears around safety - although statistics show children are less likely to be involved in an accident while cycling than they were 10 years ago.
Ben Bradshaw MP said: "As a keen cyclist myself, I am delighted to welcome the arrival of Bikeability to Exeter. As well as enabling children and young people to cycle safely on our roads, Bikeability will also tackle a number of problems that I face as Environment Minister – in particular climate change and poor air quality. Car use and congestion contribute substantially to our greenhouse gas emissions, and we currently have one of the lowest cycling levels in Europe. Bikeability will help to address this - creating more confident cyclists but also healthier, greener, transport options. I’m confident that we will see big increases in the number of people rediscovering the joys of travelling on two wheels as a result."
The scheme has also been welcomed by a national panel of mums, brought together by Cycling England to make sure the training gives parents the reassurance they need to allow children to take to the roads.
Exeter Bikeability Mum’s panel member, Gillian Hawkins said: "All three of my boys love their two wheels but like all parents I worry about their safety. This is why I thoroughly welcome the launch of Bikeability here in Exeter. I cycle my son to school every morning but now that he has completed his Bikeability training, I feel confident that he could cycle without me."
Councillor Margaret Rogers, Devon County Council Executive Member for Environment, said: "We want to create a cycling culture in Exeter and across the county because it's a great way for people of all ages to stay healthy and help make Devon an even greener county. This cycle training will give the children some new skills which will make a huge difference to their riding and benefit them for years to come."
Phillip Darnton, Chairman of Cycling England, said: "We recognise that safety on the roads is every parent’s concern but the first step in creating safer cycling must be to ensure every child gets the proper training – that’s Bikeability. Cycling has a unique role to play in making a difference to individuals and to society – improving public health and reducing childhood obesity, as well as tackling road congestion at a local level with the knock-on effect on helping to tackle climate change. Cycling England’s ambition is that, within five years, no child should leave primary school without the chance to receive Bikeability training."
Bikeability has already proven to be a hit with children who undertook the training as part of the gearing-up phase last September. Exeter was one of the eight cities which took part in the pilot where more than 10,000 badges were awarded in six months and over 80% of training organisers and instructors said they saw an increase in the number of children cycling to school after participating in Bikeability. Three in five (60%) parents whose children undertook the Bikeability training say they are now more positive about their children cycling on the roads.
Exeter is also one of the six towns in England sharing nearly £17 million to promote cycling. Cycling England made Exeter a ‘Cycling Demonstration Town’ in October 2005 and as a result the town is now leading the way in encouraging local people to use their pedal power. The aim of the CDTs is to demonstrate how European levels of funding can lead to a signi?cant increase in cycling levels with all the associated bene?ts.
As a result, more than 16km of new routes have been created in Exeter, helping to contribute to a 14% increase in cycling trips in 2006. Major improvements have already been made to the infrastructure in Exeter - focusing on the five newly built secondary schools in the city. Four of these schools now have excellent off-road routes linking in with the rest of the network. These routes also link to a huge project running along the Exe estuary creating the Exe Estuary Trails (National Cycle Network Route 2) linking Exeter to Dawlish and Exmouth and 80,000 Devon residents to the city.
The Exeter launch forms part of a regional roll out to 10 cities nationwide. More information about Bikeability can be found online at www.bikeability.org.uk
- Ends -
CTC – the UK’s national cyclists’ organisation
Released 2nd May 2007
Local cyclist is Southwest’s Volunteer of the Year
The work of thousands of local volunteers that helped to promote
cycling in 2006 has this week been recognised by CTC – the UK’s
national cyclists’ organisation, and Truro cyclist Wendy Creed has
been named South West England Volunteer of the Year.
Chair of CTC Council, Jill Kieran said “The contribution made by
volunteers on behalf of their fellow cyclists is remarkable, without
them so much of what we do would not be possible. Wendy deserves
every recognition for her extraordinary energy in promoting
cycling.”
Wendy moved to Cornwall just four years ago and has established
herself as one of the most energetic personalities promoting cycling
in the county.
As well as starting her own cycle training organisation she has
actively supported other cycling activities in the area. In
particular she has been a major contributor to the Anthony Lord
Foundation which aims to teach children across Cornwall how to ride
their bikes safely after 13-year-old Anthony was killed in a
collision with car on his bike. She is also planning and
organising an End to End Ride for various charitable organisations.
Wendy has also actively
supported CTC's campaigning positions on issues such as cycle
helmets and cycle paths in the face of considerable local
opposition. By promoting the benefits of training cyclists to deal
with their environment, she has gained a considerable public profile
for cycling.
As a result, Wendy was also involved in ‘gearing up’ for the new
national cycle training standard Bikeability from September 2006
until March 2007 and since has gained her Bikeability scheme
accreditation. She is planning to work with local partners to start
delivering CTC off road cycle training too.
In March of this year she was also awarded an Honoured Citizen of
Truro award for her work for the RNLI using cycling for fundraising.
The Award Banquet was held in Guildford at the CTC Annual Dinner and
Prize Giving with the awards presented to the recipients by Jon
Snow, CTC President and Channel 4 Broadcaster.
For further details of the extraordinary voluntary work carried out
by all the winners, go to
http://www.ctc.org.uk/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=4820
~ Ends ~
Released Monday 26th March
'07
BIKEABILITY LAUNCHED TO CREATE A NEW GENERATION OF CYCLISTS
National roll out of 21st Century
cycling proficiency to encourage children back on their bikes
The biggest change in cycling training for decades is announced today by Transport Minister Tom Harris MP. The Bikeability scheme will be rolled out nationally to help get the nation’s children back on their bikes. The new training standard is designed to provide children with the on-road skills they need to handle modern traffic conditions.
The launch comes as new research from Cycling England shows [1] a 50% decline in cycling in the space of just one generation, [2] that over half (51%) of mums questioned say they did their Cycling Proficiency or cycled regularly to school as a child. [3] Now, only a quarter (25%) of today’s children have received formal cycle training, [4] and 91% never cycle to school [5] that parents’ fears around safety are behind the declining numbers of children being trained.
In fact, statistics show children are less likely to be involved in an accident while cycling than they were 10 years ago. And ahead of the launch at a Leicester school, Tom Harris said that the new on-road training elements would reassure parents that their children will be equipped to manage today’s roads.
Tom Harris said: "Bikeability is a great way to get our children cycling safely from an early age. We want our children to be safer, more confident cyclists and to encourage healthier, greener transport options. The pilots for Bikeability have been a runaway success and I am confident that the national roll out will see big increases in the number of people rediscovering the joys of travelling on two wheels."
Last year the DfT doubled Cycling England’s funding to £10 million a year to promote cycling via initiatives such as Bikeability, which has already proven to be a hit with children who undertook the training as part of the gearing-up phase last September.
More than 10,000 badges were awarded in six months and over 80% of training organisers and instructors said they saw an increase in the number of children cycling to school after participating in Bikeability. Three in five (60%) parents whose children undertook the Bikeability training say they are now more positive about their children cycling on the roads.
Claire Halsey, clinical psychologist and parenting expert, who authored the Cycling England report, also backed the launch of the scheme: "Aside from providing children with more confidence, Bikeability will help unlock the considerable health and fitness advantages of cycling, as well as providing families with the chance for some much-needed time together."
Phillip Darnton, Chairman of Cycling England, added: "We recognise that safety on the roads is every parent’s concern but the first step in creating safer cycling must be to ensure every child gets the proper training – that’s Bikeability".
"Cycling has a unique role to play in making a difference to individuals and to society – improving public health and reducing childhood obesity, as well as tackling road congestion at a local level with the knock-on effect on helping to tackle climate change. Cycling England’s ambition is that, within five years, no child should leave primary school without the chance to receive Bikeability training."
Any schools who are interested in setting up Bikeability training can get more information online at www.bikeability.org.uk . Cycling England will be rolling out Bikeability with official launches in a further nine cities between 25 March and 6 July.
~ Ends ~
Released: 14 February 2007
City honours citizens who have made their mark
Three people who have made a mark on their community have been honoured in an awards ceremony.
Truro City Council has presented two businessmen, Nigel Pariss and Robert Mallet and charity worker Clarice Mortimer-Fowler with honorary awards in the first ceremony of it's kind since 1979.
Ten other citizens were also thanked for their achievements were presented with the latest book by Christine Parnell, "The book of Truro., Cornwall's City and it's people" and were Wendy Creed, organiser and instructor for Bikeability cycle training, is organising a sponsored ride for next year in aid of the RNLI's 'Train One, Save Many' campaign.
Mary Davey for 14 years service to Cornwall Centre for Volunteers and voluntary organisations across Truro, Pat Eslick for her tireless efforts raising funds for the Royal Airforces Association Wings Appeal.
Mary Hart, chairman of the Royal British Legion's Womens Section and organiser of the Poppy Appeal since 1986., Lt. Cmdr A D Heggie is involved with the Normandy Veterans Association, Lawrence Holmes, Chairman of the Royal Observer Corps Association, Fred Luff, Branch Treasurer of the Royal British Legion.
Philip Robinson as Branch Standard Bearer and two years ago he represented the RBL at the Albert Hall. Dennis Smith, Treasurer and Secretary of the City of Truro Band and Jean Smith, Treasurer of the Active Blind Leisure Club without whom, there was a danger the club would have to close.
~ Ends ~
Released: 05 October 2006
SIBLINGS SIGN UP FOR CYCLE TRAINING FOLLOWING ACCIDENT
Four siblings from Falmouth are to receive expert cycle training after one of them narrowly escaped serious injury last week. Fourteen-year old Sancha Matthews was on her way home last Tuesday evening when she was in collision with a car near McDonalds in Dracaena Avenue.
Fortunately she suffered only a minor injury to her knee and was release after being checked over at the hospital.
"She was very lucky," said her mum, Margaret, who lives at Trevarth Road. "She only twisted her knee, it could have been a lot worse."
Sancha's accident was bought to the attention of Wendy Creed, principal instructor of Road Safety and Cycle Training, which runs Bikeability courses, the modern day Cycling Proficiency, by a cyclist friend who witnessed the accident.
Wendy is also involved with the Antony Lord Foundation, set up by Antony's mother, Joanne, following the death of her 13-year-old son in February 2005.
Antony of St Columb Major, sustained serious head injuries after his BMX bike collided with a car near the Halloon roundabout. By coincidence, Joanne, a trained First Aider and her husband, Nigel, were first on the scene as they drove home along the A39. In the absence of the emergency services, Joanne stopped to help and found herself administering mouth-to-mouth resuscitation at the roadside.
Upon hearing of the accident in
Falmouth, Wendy offered her services free of charge to Sancha, her
two younger brothers, James aged 12 and 10-year-old Adam and her
younger sister, 8-year-old Kerry.
"Thankfully the lass walked away*, said Wendy. "I work
with Joanne Lord to try and stop any more Antonys'. I really
don't want to have to deal with another fatality."
Mrs Matthews is grateful for Wendy's offer of proper training for her children. "Kids are not taught to ride their bikes properly any more," she said. "I think this training is going to do them all some good."
"Sancha loves her bike. She rides it to school sometimes, goes out to Budock Church and has just done a sponsored bike ride. She has not had any formal training though."
Anyone wanting to learn more about Bikeability courses should call Wendy on 01872 240939 or check out the website at www.bikeability.org.uk
~ End ~
RELEASED Thursday 7 September 2006
KIDS GET READY TO PROVE THEIR BIKEABILITY
Cycle training for the 21st century launched today
‘Bikeability’ – the new cycling proficiency for the 21st century - is launched today, marking a complete makeover of cycle training for today’s children.
Many adults will remember doing their Cycling Proficiency Test. Bikeability is designed to give the next generation the skills and confidence to ride their bikes on today’s roads. Bikeability will initially be trialled with 3000 children across England in order to ‘gear up’ for a national rollout of the scheme from Spring 2007 when thousands of children will have the chance to get the new Bikeability award. The aim is that by 2009 half of all year six pupils in England will be trained through schemes awarding Bikeability.
To get their Bikeability award, children and adults will be instructed on how to ride their bikes to the Government-approved National Standard for Cycle Training, which sets out the training and skills essential for making cycling trips in today’s road conditions. Children will be encouraged and inspired to achieve all three levels, recognising that there is always more to learn and to enjoy on a bike.
The Bikeability award will consist of a luminous metal badge, booklet, certificate and a letter to parents. All Bikeability materials have been thoroughly researched and designed to appeal to the needs of parents, teachers and training instructors as well as children.
Bikeability will be unveiled by Derek Twigg, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport, at an official launch in Merseyside today.
Phillip Darnton, Chairman of Cycling England, the independent, expert body administering Bikeability, said "This is a really important announcement for cycling, the culmination of five years work by Cycling England and our partners. Bikeability will give children the necessary skills and knowledge needed to cycle safely throughout the rest of their life. But Bikeability is more than just teaching children to ride a bike. It’s also about introducing them to cycling as an everyday activity – an alternative mode of transport, an enjoyable pastime, which brings a healthier lifestyle and is ultimately lots of fun. Bikeability will give children a life skill that once they’ve learnt, they will never forget. The great joy of cycling is like no other healthy activity or sport it begins and ends at your own front door. Our long-term vision is that in five years, no child in England should leave primary school without having the opportunity to achieve their Bikeability."
Steve Whitehouse of the Local Authority Road Safety Officers Association (LARSOA) said: "Bikeability is an excellent way of promoting safe cycling to children and adults, and builds on the work of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) and local authorities over several decades to establish cycling proficiency. Parents will now be able to feel reassured that when their children cycle to school they have the necessary skills to make the journey safely."
A new Bikeability website – www.bikeability.org.uk – has also been launched to update on news about the initial six month trial and national roll out in 2007
.~ Ends ~
DISCLAIMER: Whilst every reasonable care has been taken to ensure accuracy of information provided on both this page and website, we cannot be held responsible for any errors in or omissions from the given text