Surrey County Council has approved £200,000 of additional funding to subsidise Bikeability training in Surrey schools from September 2020, bringing the total investment into cycle training for children to £510,000.
The training helps to increase cycle skills and safety for children from age five up to age 11. The funding will help to reduce the cost of the courses and make them more accessible and affordable for schools and parents.
Matt Furniss, Cabinet Member for Transport, said, “Encouraging children to cycle safely is a great way to support a healthy lifestyle and environmentally-friendly transport choices in future. It’s essential children are safe on our roads, so I’m delighted this funding has been made available to help ensure more children can take advantage of the scheme.”
There are three levels of training available;
• Pedals for five and six year olds, which aims to teach them basic safety and stopping skills.
• Bikeability level 1 for seven to nine year olds. This is held on a playground and teaches cycling and manoeuvring.
• Bikeability level 2, for 10 and 11 year olds, teaches road safety skills and is taught on quiet local roads.
All the courses take place during school hours and can be booked by the school.
The recent pandemic has seen an increase in people taking up cycling, which is great news for the environment, our air quality and people’s mental and physical wellbeing. By providing support for cycle safety and training, Surrey County Council aims to make the switch to modes of cleaner, greener travel more permanent and help reduce our reliance on cars, for all our benefit.
More information about how to book the sessions will be sent to schools nearer the time, subject to government guidance and social distancing regulations.
