Over the last three weeks, children from over 800 schools across the UK have shown parents how to save thousands of pounds in unnecessary petrol costs. As part of UK-wide cycle challenge The Big Pedal, over a quarter of a million children took matters into their own hands to prove to parents how choosing two wheels instead of four for the school run could make significant financial savings for families everywhere.
Over the past three weeks, children have made an astonishing 990,550 journeys by bike to and from school, potentially saving their parents more than £250k in petrol costs - in just three weeks. If these children continued to cycle to and from school for one year, the potential saving could be as much as £2million. With petrol prices at the most expensive they’ve ever been, despite the recent fuel duty cut, people everywhere are looking for ways to make ends meet; making changes to the school run has potential to not only save money, but get kids more active on a daily basis.
Paul Osborne, Sustrans School Travel Director comments, “We’ve been absolutely amazed by the take up in this year’s competition. The amount of journeys that have been clocked up by children in just three weeks is astounding. It really goes to show just how easy it is to leave the car at home and use two wheels for short journeys like the school run.”
The average journey to school for children aged between five and 11 is just 1.6 miles*, congestion around schools is a real problem, with 20 per cent of all cars on the road at 8.50am in term time a result of the school run.**
Jason O’Rourke, Head Teacher at Washingborough Primary School says, “Pupils and parents really got on board with the competition. It was amazing to see how much calmer the school gates and surrounding roads were with less cars bringing children to school. Lots of parents have been commenting on how great it is that the Big Pedal is reducing the amount of traffic outside of the school.”
Cycling England ’s Bikeability Manager Paul Robison adds “Now that it seems Spring has finally sprung, I hope the momentum that The Big Pedal has achieved will continue and that others will be inspired both to do their Bikeability and to cycle to school. We always knew that children wanted to ride their bikes, but nearly a million bike trips in three weeks proves it! I’d like to say a big thank you to all the schools and children who took part and to the cycle industry Bike Hub fund that made the Big Pedal possible this year. And for the oil companies: sorry to dent your profits!”
This year’s race followed a similar format to the Tour de France; each day was a different time trial, with different stages, from long flat sprints to hillier mountainous climbs. The more children, parents and teachers that cycled in to school on each day, the quicker time the school is awarded for each stage. Pontrhydyfen Primary School , in Port Talbot, Wales , won the competition with the overall quickest time.
Pupils from Pontrhydyfen Primary School will be treated to a spectacular day with the M.A.D cycle stunt team, who have performed for people all over the world, from Pepsi-Cola in Saudi Arabia to Formula One driver Jacques Villeneuve at his birthday party. National runners up win a Minipod bike and scooter storage system worth over £1,000 for their school and the fastest school in each region will win an amazing bike workshop kit consisting of 78 bike tools, a shadow board to hold them all in and a bicycle work stand for all your school's cycle repair needs supplied by Fisher Outdoor and Weldtite. Fisher Outdoor has also provided five cycle repair tool kits and floor pumps that can be won in the daily challenges in the last week of the Big Pedal.
For more information please go to: http://www.thebigpedal.org.uk
*Based on children aged 5-10 years living an average of 1.6 miles away from school, according to the National Travel Survey 2008 http://www.dft.gov.uk/adobepdf/162469/221412/221531/223955/32274311/NTS2008.pdf
**Transport 2000
Source: Sustrans
