Lee Valley Velo Park children’s cycling festival marks success of cycle to school programme

Almost 200 schoolchildren from across London attended a cycling festival at Lee Valley Velo Park this week as part of a programme designed to encourage children to cycle to school. Delivered by Sustrans and funded by Transport for London (TfL) and local authorities, Bike It Plus has reportedly seen levels of cycling double in 126 schools that are new to the programme.

During the festival, students from 12 London secondary schools tried Mountain Biking, BMX and track cycling. They also got to take part in workshops with BMX champions Keelan Phillips and Matti Hemmings, as well as competing in a Rollapaluza cycle challenge.

To coincide with the event, Sustrans announced that that the number of children cycling regularly to school had doubled from six per cent (1,883) to 12.5 per cent (4,097) in Primary and Secondary schools which were intensively engaged with its Bike It Plus programme. Their survey also found that 41 per cent (12,270) of pupils would prefer to cycle to school than travel via any other mode of transport.

German Dector-Vega, Director of Sustrans London, said:

“These results show that it is possible to tackle the epidemic of physical inactivity head-on with something as simple as cycling to school.

“Sustrans’ work in schools is an effective way to help children get an hour of exercise a day without putting extra strain on parents or teachers, instilling a sense of fun and a love for physical activity which will stay with children for the rest of their lives.”

Previous Sustrans research revealed that almost half (49 per cent) of parents in London said their child did 40 minutes or less of exercise in a typical weekday.

Matt Barbet, the presenter of ITV4’s The Cycle Show, attended was at Lee Valley Velo Park for the event. He said that cycling had countless benefits for children.

“Cycling is something people can enjoy throughout their whole lives and giving children the confidence to ride a bike early brings countless benefits for them, and everyone else. I cycle all the time and it's sad to sometimes hear people say they don't because they're scared. Done properly, there is absolutely no reason it should be – rather than fear, it is great fun."

Andrew Gilligan, Cycling Commissioner for London, was also in attendance.

"Seeing so many children here today excited about cycling in all its varied forms is a joy, but what's truly heartening is to know that this generation sees bikes as transport as well as toys.

"Pioneering cycling cities like Amsterdam got where they are today not only by creating a safe environment for riding but also by empowering younger generations to leave behind cars and choose bikes as their primary means of transport.

"The work we're doing to provide cycling infrastructure all over London, such as the Quietways and the new Cycle Superhighways, and that Sustrans are doing to educate children about the benefits of riding, will put us on track to achieve our target of doubling cycling levels by 2023."

Nor are the benefits just physical. A 2013 Danish study found that children who cycle or walk to school demonstrated a measurable increase in concentration that lasted for up to four hours.

The survey, which looked at nearly 20,000 children from the ages of five to 19, discovered that the effect of exercise was greater than that of diet and that a third-grade pupil who exercised and cycled to school had an ability to concentrate equivalent to someone half a year further on in their studies.