CTC leads collaboration to win largest ever award from Postcode Lottery

By JacquiShannon
Thursday, 30 January 2014
L-R are Victoria Leiper (Glasgow Bike Station), Christopher Johnson (Cycling Scotland), Suzanne Forup (CTC) and Marguerite Hunter (Play Scotland).
A new CTC-led project will allow every four-year-old child in Glasgow the opportunity to learn to ride a bike.

Play on Wheels, a collaborative project between CTC, the national cycling charity, Play Scotland, Glasgow Bike Station and Cycling Scotland was awarded £230,000 last night (Wednesday 29 January) in the People’s Postcode Lottery Dream Fund 2014. The award, which is the largest single amount ever awarded to a Dream Fund project, means every four-year-old child in Glasgow will have the chance to learn to ride a bike before they go to school.

Planned to run from this year until January 2016 to coincide with the Commonwealth Games, the project aims to help children and their families incorporate cycling into their lives. Four-year-olds will be able to receive Bikeability Level 1 cycle training, and will have regular access to bikes, which they will then be encouraged to swap and recycle through project partner Glasgow Bike Station as they grow.

The four charities involved in the development of the project hope to capitalise on the excitement and interest in cycling and create a lasting legacy for the City’s young people and families. CTC Cycling Development Officer for Scotland Suzanne Forup, who headed up the project, was delighted by the grant. She says:

“Allowing young children to experience the fun and exhilaration of cycling independently, and to begin to develop active habits helps them to lead a healthy lifestyle as they grow through childhood and into adulthood. The funding we received from The People’s Postcode Lottery will help take our project from planning to reality.”

Play on Wheels will work with 50 community organisations, including nurseries, playgroups, disability support groups, health and medical centres, and community centres across Glasgow to create a group of cycling ambassadors. These will be instrumental in targeting every family in their community and getting them cycling.

 

Notes to editors

Notes to editors:

 

CTC, the UK’s largest cycling charity, inspires and helps people to cycle and keep cycling, whatever kind of cycling they do or would like to do. Over a century’s experience tells us that cycling is more than useful transport; it makes you feel good, gives you a sense of freedom and creates a better environment for everyone.

 

·      We provide expert, practical help and advice.

·      We support individuals and communities.

·      We protect cyclists’ interests.

·      We campaign to make cycling mainstream and to remove the things that stop people cycling.

·      We help people develop the confidence and skills to cycle.

·      We promote the benefits of cycling to individuals, to society and to the economy.

 

www.ctc.org.uk

 

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