Up to 2 million more children will have access to walk to school programmes and cycle training programmes over the next 2 years thanks to a multimillion-pound investment announced by Active Travel England (ATE) today (29 September 2023).
The £60 million package will help parents have more confidence to walk or cycle with their kids on the school run by funding initiatives that give more children better road skills and aim to help make it easier for parents to choose greener travel options.
The 2-year funding will include £50 million to expand Bikeability cycle training to a million more young people. This scheme has already delivered training to more than 4 million children since 2007.
A further £5 million will support walk to school programmes aimed at hundreds of thousands of pupils in schools across England via the charity Living Streets.
Chris Boardman, Active Travel Commissioner, said:
Decarbonisation Minister, Jesse Norman, said:
Schools Minister, Nick Gibb, said:
Also included in the package is £4 million to extend Cycling UK’s Big Bike Revival programme to March 2025. The scheme has already engaged over 80,000 people of all ages, helping them learn cycling basics and feel more confident while pedalling.
Meanwhile, an additional £500,000 will fund an extension to the Modeshift STARS and Active Travel Ambassador schemes. The STARS program provides recognition for schools, businesses and organisations that show excellence in supporting and delivering active travel plans in their community. Active Travel Ambassadors work with secondary school students to encourage their peers to travel actively.
Stephen Edwards, Chief Executive of Living Streets, said:
Emily Cherry, Chief Executive of the Bikeability Trust, said:
Head of Communications, Active Travel England
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