Cycling Forum networking event

Date of the event: 12th November 2009
Organised by: Cycling Projects and Target: Wellbeing
Venue: Avenham Park, Preston
Reported by: Rob Squires, Network Co-ordinator (Third Sector)

Photo: River Ribble, looking North from Avenham Park

This was the second regional physical activity networking event, that we have organised for Target: Wellbeing projects, this time with a focus on cycling, and other outdoor activities. Most of the credit for organising this goes to Cycling Projects, who put together the programme, speakers and venue.

This partnership emerged through a realisation that Cycling Projects have an operation up and running in pretty much all of the 10 Target: Wellbeing programme areas, and in those where they do not, there are plans. Our collective aim therefore was to strengthen links between Cycling Projects, and other Target: Wellbeing funding cycling projects in the region, with a view to increased collaboration in the future. This aim was achieved to an extent, with some interesting new links being established between projects.

Cycling Projects put together an excellent programme of speakers for the morning, including:

• Jenny Ashburner from Preston PCT talking about how they support Target: Wellbeing, and cycling initiatives in the City;
• Ian Tierny talking about the work of cycling Projects in the Region
• Yvonne Ashcroft talking about the Pedal Away TWB project in Preston;
• David Jeffreys from Natural England, talking about partnership work with walking initiatives;
• Alasdair Simpson from Lancs County Council talking about how the local authorities are promoting cycling in the county.

Copies of the presentations can be downloaded from Target: Wellbeing’s new web site when it goes live in the very near future.

Pedal Away .. sunshine on a rainy day!

Date of event: Wednesday 10th June 09, 10am – 12.30pm
Organised by: Pedal Away in Knowsley
Venue: National Wildflower Centre
Report by: Rob Squires, Network Co-ordinator – Third Sector

Yesterday I took a trip to Knowsley to visit the Pedal Away project, which is being lead Kelly Mckeown from the national Cycling Projects charity. It was an overcast summer morning, as we assembled in the cafe at the National Wildflower Centre run by Landlife, and based in Courthey Park, on the border between Knowsley and Liverpool. Kelly is an excellent cycle leader, and as the sun was trying to break through the clouds, she led us of on our ride, with a sense of confidence, and good humour. We were taken on a six mile journey, which took us through an adjacent housing estate, and onto the Liverpool Loop, which is an old railway line, which has been converted by Sustrans into a cycle path, and forms part of the Transpennine route which goes all the way to Hull. We followed the route south as far as Halewood Environment Centre, where we stopped for a rest, before returning back up to the Loop Line, and into the grounds of the Wildflower Centre. As we returned to the Centre, it was just beginning to rain .. I was very impressed with Kelly's organisational skills .. she even had the weather under control ;-) Landlife have been sowing wildflower seeds in the park around their Centre for many years, and even though the sky was grey, the surrounding environment was a picture to behold.

There were an interesting mix of volunteers and beneficiaries on the ride. These included a married couple who joined the group in order to encourage their son, who is a little disengaged with society at the moment, plus it also included a woman who has been attending with her father who has had a heart attack. There were also a number of younger people, including a school student, a university student, and a PHD, who were using the project to get work experience as part of their learning. Participants had a range of cycling skills, and some of them were low in self-confidence when it came to riding bikes on the open road. Because of this, Kelly walked the group through the housing estate until we reached the Liverpool Loop Line. By the time we returned, after an easy-going six mile ride along the Loop, confidence was high, and the group were happy to cycle on the roads through the estate and the traffic.

The National Wildflower Centre made an excellent venue for starting and ending the ride. Landlife run an excellent project called the Great Outdoors, which is also a part of the Target: Wellbeing portfolio, and the Centre has excellent facilities to rent, including workshop space and a cafe. As such, we are using it as the venue for a regional physical activity networking event for Target: Wellbeing projects, which is being organised for Wednesday July 8th. More info on this event will be circulated soon.