Wokingham Borough Connect
Cyclists saddle up for Bikeathon fun
More than 400 riders had fun in the sun at this year's Wokingham Bikeathon and you can watch a short video of highlights online.
Cyclists of all ages gathered at Cantley Park in Wokingham, where the event started and finished, and rode routes of between 15 and 50 miles or the two-mile Kidical Mass family route organised by WATCHWokingham.
Our My Journey Wokingham active and sustainable travel team gave advice, free water bottles and rides on their smoothie-making bike Pedalicious using fruit donated by Tesco Wokingham, while the Sprockets Cycle Club guided children around an obstacle course.
Every child who finished got a free, biodegradable medal sponsored by My Journey Wokingham while Dr Bike carried out free bike checks and Thames Valley Police marked 100 bikes to help deter thieves (more advice on the force's website).
Love to Ride also attended with their spinning wheel tombola where users could win a bike themed prize and shared information about their online platform to get more people cycling.
Going the distance in record year
We're proud that our borough’s cyclists have again smashed records in the annual Love to Ride Bike Month Challenge.
The event in May saw 371 riders rack up 53,091 miles across nearly 4,000 trips, the equivalent of 15 journeys between London and New York. They beat last year's total of about 50,000 miles, setting an all-time best for the second year running.
There were 32 newcomers to the scheme, which we support through our My Journey Wokingham team, with 42 workplaces taking part including us. In total, the event saved an estimated 2,300kg in carbon emissions.
It's easy to register and, so far, more than 2,600 people have contributed to the borough's total of 2,212,188 miles - almost 90 laps of the Equator! How much further could you help us go?
It's easy being green for Clean Air Day
Residents and businesses in Wokingham Borough can do their part to reduce air pollution by picking up some environmentally friendly habits on Clean Air Day.
The event today Thursday, 15 June, which is the UK's biggest air pollution campaign, encourages people to make simple changes to reduce the serious health effects caused by vehicle and other emissions.
It's themed this year around the effect that air pollution has on mental health, although it also has significant physical effects and causes up to 36,000 deaths a year nationally. The council is supporting this initiative locally with a range of fun activities that everyone can enjoy.
Rewards for leaving the car at home
Anyone who'd like to get more daily steps can take part in the long-running My Journey Wokingham challenge, hosted on the free BetterPoints smartphone app, which will be offering special Bike Week and Clean Air Day rewards.
Keep a look out on the app for information, rewards and prize draws throughout the month. One of the prizes is a fabulous Dart 3 Batribike folding electric bike worth £1,299.
BetterPoints automatically logs all walks, as well as runs, bike rides and trips on public transport, and converts them into points which can be exchanged for gift vouchers or charity donations.
And of course don't forget Love to Ride, which is suitable for all ability levels. Even very short rides count, so it's worth joining for saddle-seasoned enthusiasts or total beginners alike.
Make that healthy change today
Whether it’s popular events like the Bikeathon or year-round initiatives like the My Journey Wokingham challenge and Love to Ride, we’re pleased to support a range of fun ways to encourage fewer car journeys.
Promoting sustainable alternatives to driving, and doing all we can to provide the necessary infrastructure, is part of our efforts to improve local air quality, address the climate emergency, improve residents’ health and reduce traffic congestion.
New bike repair stands and pumps
As part of our air quality project, My Journey won funding from Defra to install deluxe bike repair stands and pumps in Twyford, one of our air quality management areas.
On Wednesday they were installed at Bia Hub and Waitrose in Twyford along with a third at Bulmershe Leisure Centre in Woodley. All the managers were thrilled to have them as their cafes and other facilities are popular with cyclists.
Keen and casual cyclists can access the stands to repair their bikes or pump up tyres 24/7, making it easier for them to cycle round the borough and leave the car at home.
Funding sets wheels in motion for new route
Plans for a new active travel link between Wokingham town centre and Winnersh parish have taken their first steps thanks to a Government grant.
We’ve been awarded more than £600,000 from the Department for Transport's Active Travel Fund, which will pay for initial design work on the scheme along the A329 Reading Road.
This 1.6 mile (2.5km) route, comprising a segregated one-way cycle lane with shared use paths and other improvements on each side of the road, would run from Sadler’s Lane at Winnersh, near the M4 underpass and petrol station, to the western end of Broad Street.
However, we haven’t allocated any money for building it and wouldn’t start work without seeking your views. The project would be split into four phases and we’d like to consult on at least the first by the end of this year.
The scheme was raised in our Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan, a borough-wide strategy we recently published with your feedback. It would support our ongoing efforts to tackle the climate emergency and air pollution by cutting emissions, as well as helping you live more healthily.
Active swaps for walking and cycling
We are pleased to launch our new Active Swaps campaign. The campaign highlights swaps that you can make to feel fitter, improve your wellbeing, and save money. Not only that, but your swaps will also improve air quality and reduce travel times for everyone on our roads.
Consider walking, wheeling, scooting or cycling as you travel for work, school or leisure.
Don't know where to start? Our social media channels will share walking and cycling routes in our towns, villages and country parks.
Did you know, it's only a 9-minute cycle to Cantley Park from Wokingham town centre?
If you need to make your journeys using a car during the week, why not try to make a small active swap at the weekend instead?
We look forward to seeing you share your swaps this summer.
Coronation prizes as pupils bring the bling
Congratulations to Harper from Grazeley Primary School and Rosie from Windmill Primary School, Wokingham, who are the winners of our Coronation bling your bike or scooter competition. They each win a silver commemorative coin and Coronation themed bag tags for their classes.
James from St Teresa’s Primary School and Cara from Windmill Primary School, both in Wokingham, were also chosen as runners-up and have won My Journey goody bags.
Animations bring air quality message to life
We’re running a special Clean Air Day promotion to encourage more schools to use our online animated air quality lessons for Key Stage 2 pupils. In return, schools could claim a £100 Waterstones voucher as a reward.
Pupils from Gorse Ride Juniors in Finchampstead, one of our ten air quality schools, have really enjoyed learning about what causes air pollution and what they can to reduce it near their school. They’ve produced some fantastic work after watching our lessons on YouTube.
If your school would like to use the animated education pack please watch Lesson 1 - What is Air Pollution? and Lesson 2 - Solutions to Air Pollution. The accompanying teachers’ packs can be downloaded from our website.
Unleashing inner artists for Clean Air Day
We’ve created a Clean Air Day poster competition as part of Clean Air Day which is open to all Wokingham borough school children. To enter, create a picture using our template to show how walking, scooting or cycling to school makes you feel.
Please also include how you get to school, as well as your name, class and school. Entries should be sent to us by Friday, 23 June.
The first prize is a year’s access to the Earthsense air quality monitoring platform for an individual school, using high-quality monitoring to investigate local pollution sources. There will also be My Journey goody bags for the runners-up.
Boost for Wokingham borough vision for better buses
Plans to increase our borough’s bus passenger numbers by providing a better service have received a £401,322 boost.
The Department for Transport has awarded us the sum to fund some ideas from our revised Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP), a strategy we recently published. By making buses more affordable and convenient, and better for the environment, we hope more people will use them – allowing us to work towards long-term improvements.
The revised BSIP sets goals to reach in partnership with operators and other organisations. These include higher usage and service levels, faster and more reliable journeys, more affordable fares, greener fleets, closer links with other travel networks and better rural provision.
It suggests how to achieve these, including more efficient ticketing and improving fleets and other infrastructure, but making it happen depends on external funding. We’re now drawing up an "enhanced partnership", a legal agreement with operators to decide which ideas to progress first.
Regular cycle training and activities
- Bikeability Learn to Ride sessions (£6) at FBC in Finchampstead (Wednesdays) and Woodford Park Leisure Centre in Woodley (Thursdays)
- FREE Balance Bike Clubs at FBC (Wednesdays) which is sponsored by Complete Childcare
- FREE Balance Bike Club at Woodford Park Leisure Centre (Thursdays)
- Woky Wheels 4 All at FBC in Finchampstead on Thursday mornings
- Adult Cycle Training for Beginners/Improvers (£10) at Woodford Park Leisure Centre, Woodley on Saturday mornings
- FREE Dr Bike at St Mary's Church Fete, Shinfield Green on Saturday, 24 June
- Electric Bike Event - Wokingham Town Council and My Journey - Saturday, 1 July - Shute End, Wokingham
For more information on our regular cycle training and activities, visit our website.
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