Anne’s glass is full thanks to Play on Pedals

Anne, originally from Ayrshire, has lived in Drumchapel for nearly four years. She was involved in the setting up of a voluntary community group, 'Healthy Tots, Happy Tots', two years ago, to hold regular sessions for under-fives including physical activities, healthy eating, arts and crafts.

She was investigating the idea of holding a session with balance bikes and as a result got in touch with the Play on Pedals project. A year later, Anne was the project’s first qualified Instructor Trainer, helping to teach Play on Pedals volunteers to become instructors.

Working with local organisations such as nurseries, Play on Pedals gives pre-school children across Glasgow the chance to learn to ride a bike. The project distributes bikes to those who cannot access them and provides free training for volunteers to become instructors, instructor trainers or maintenance volunteers.

Thanks to Anne’s fitness knowledge and her hard work and voluntary commitment, the project has been put into place in Drumchapel. She has co-ordinated training days, delivered training sessions to more than 50 children and promoted the project throughout the community. Drumchapel now has 25 trained instructors, delivering sessions in 11 locations.

Play on Pedals is fantastic because I’m finally able to work with something that I enjoy. It’s really grown and I’m really excited about the project.

Anne Glass, Play on Pedals Instructor Trainer

Outside of Drumchapel, 45-year-old Anne has also become the first Instructor Trainer to deliver sessions as part of the national roll-out of Play on Pedals, delivered by Cycling Scotland, a partner in the project, through funding obtained by Transport Scotland. Anne has delivered to local authority nurseries in Falkirk, Alloa, Doune and other areas of Scotland, helping to play a central role in the development of Play on Pedals. Anne, a trained karate coach, gained a Certificate of Higher Education in Sport, Fitness and Management with the Open University in July 2015. She is going on to complete the BSc Honours degree in Sport, Fitness and Coaching after deciding to start studying two years ago.

She said: “I was working long hours in an office role in Glasgow city centre. I decided a few years ago that I wanted to go a totally different route and started studying sport and fitness. I was so involved and passionate about it and everything has grown from there.

“It’s a joy to help teach children how to ride a bike through Play on Pedals, and it will hopefully encourage them to want to use a bike for everyday journeys as well as leisure rides for the rest of their lives.”  

Anne combined her studies with her voluntary work, keeping fit and being a carer for her two children. She studies in the evenings and when her children are at school.

The skills and knowledge Anne has gained through her studies have been useful for her Play on Pedals work. She explained: “With Play on Pedals, I can develop my coaching skills and trial methods I have learned through university.

“During sessions, we’ve developed new balance games, incorporating the martial arts and yoga training I’ve had, into a fun and diverse physical activity hour with the children. I worked alongside the nursery staff to plan sessions which we delivered together, and I used observations and Play on Pedals work for my university assessments."

It’s a joy to help teach children how to ride a bike through Play on Pedals, and it will hopefully encourage them to want to use a bike for everyday journeys as well as leisure rides for the rest of their lives.

Anne Glass

“Play on Pedals is fantastic because I’m finally able to work with something that I enjoy. I hadn’t expected going forward with something like Play on Pedals previously, but it’s really grown and I’m really excited about the project," Anne said.

Play on Pedals is funded by players of People’s Postcode Lottery and was awarded £232,000 from the Postcode Trust’s 2014 Dream Fund. It is also recognised by Glasgow City Council as delivering a very positive legacy pre and post the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and expanded quickly within its first year, with now over 200 instructors training more than 3,000 children.

The project is a partnership between Cycling UK, Cycling Scotland, Glasgow Bike Station and Play Scotland.