£400,000 grant will provide cycle training at schools

AS £400,000 grant to provide cycle training for pupils at Warrington’s schools has been secured by the borough council.
The money, from the Department of Transport, will provide cycle training for youngsters aged five to 14 over the next three years.
Bikeability is the cycle training programme for the 21st century. It’s about gaining practical skills and understanding how to cycle on today’s roads, and gives everyone the skills and confidence for all kinds of cycling.
There are three Bikeability levels, each designed to improve cycling skills, no matter what is known already. Levels 1, 2 and 3 take trainees from the basics of balance and control, all the way to planning and making an independent journey on busier roads.
Level 2 has been offered to all 10 year olds since 2007, but the new grant allows younger children to learn the basics and those moving on to secondary school to gain independence by cycling to school and college.
The new grant also allows the training of parents and group rides to give families the confidence and inspiration to cycle more, both for leisure and to get to and from school.
Cllr Hans Mundry (pictured), the council’s lead member for transport, said: “We hope the whole package of Bikeability sessions and family rides will give children and their parents the confidence and inspiration to cycle more, helping them to stay fit and healthy while at the same time reducing the school run congestion.”