BIG INTERVIEW


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ncouraging kids to be active and helping them cycle safely has numerous benefits, with Chris Boardman recently describing the ability to ride


a bike as a ‘ticket to freedom’. This was after a £500,000 Bikeability funding boost was announced to teach children to cycle during the summer holidays, and now, schools and families across the UK have been invited to take part in Cycle to School Week from 3rd-7th October. “It’s a week of action, a unifying moment to show parents, carers, schools and children the importance of getting on your cycles and giving some top tips for doing it,” Bikeability CEO Emily Cherry told BikeBiz. “This year we’re asking families, children, and schools to take an approach of pledging to try something new. That could be cycling


Bikeability CEO Emily Cherry www.bikebiz.com


Bikeability CEO Emily Cherry tells Rebecca Morley how the charity gives children the skills and confidence to get on their bikes


to school, it could also be travelling as a family on a new route, it could just be using your cycle for the first time to go to the shops or for leisure. We’re asking for a pledge- based approach, which is really important.” But beyond this week of encouraging cycling commutes, how do we instil good habits to ensure children continue riding all year round? “There are three things that we think are really important – the first is obviously the training,” said Cherry. “It’s the skills and the confidence to cycle everywhere that cycling is permitted, and that’s what Bikeability does.


“By the end of primary school, we would


expect to give every child the skills and the independence to be able to cycle. The second


thing, which is kind of more important than the first, is access to cycles.


October 2022 | 21


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