Family Bike Club
From "People Powered Plaistow"
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Proposed budget
Description
June Update
Our Family Bike Club has been successfully running on Fridays after school. We have a very mixed group that attends in terms of age, demographics and gender and we are delighted that we have such a big turnout each week. We have a mixture of children that bring their own bikes or scooters and just want the freedom to ride, as well as those that borrow our school bikes or scooters. All are welcome! On average, 2 children are helped to ride each week and within the space of an hour go from not being able to control a pedal bike to riding off into the sunset!
As a parent commented, “It is such a relief to have somewhere safe for them to ride.” Many parents have commented on anti-social behaviour in parks meaning they don’t feel safe to let their children ride off on bikes or scooters, however being in the controlled environment of the school playground alleviates these concerns.
We are delighted to have planned a Community Cycle on the Greenway on Saturday 29th June 2024. The more the merrier so do come along! Details on the flyer attached.
Initial Proposal
In the past we have run a 'Family Bike Club' after school for our children and their family members to take part in. Sadly due to cuts in funding we have not been able to run this due to not having adequate budget to repair/maintain/replace the bikes or to pay school staff overtime to run this. This club is always fully inclusive of children of all ages and abilities, including those with special educational needs. Having a session within the school playground at the end of the day not only makes it easy for parents to bring their children along, but also gives them a safe space for their children to be active and have fun and to learn to ride a bike. We have balance bikes and pedal bikes and a few trikes for those that need them.
By running this as a 'Family Club' all children are accompanied by a parent/carer who we also encourage to ride / learn to ride if they would like to do so.
To link in with this, we also have a member of school staff who is trained to offer 'Bikeability; training to support children to both learn to ride bikes and then to ride safely on the roads. When able to be offered (again budget allowing), this does encourage children (and their families!) to both get active and to use sustainable modes of travel to and from school. We have offered this training during this academic year after successfully applying for funding, and have trained over 100 children to date. This year we came 5th in the UK in the Sustrans Big Walk and Wheel competition for the number of children scooting or cycling to school. Sadly the funding is not available again for next academic year, so we are unsure if we will be able to continue to afford to offer this training.
We would also be interested in offering guided weekend rides to appeal to any working parents who may struggle to come along with their child/ren earlier in the day. We usually run a 'Family Bike Ride and Picnic' during our Sports Week in the summer term, and even during the school day this is very popular and encourages parents to get out with their children and realise some of the cycle-friendly routes we have available locally.
