As we approach the final few weeks of the year I have
summarised some of the activity at National Office and more locally to help us
reflect on progress and future work. I think it has been a successful year and
we have started to see some important outcomes for cycling from the new
management team.
Training:
Following the member group survey into how CTC could best
support groups, groups are being offered the opportunity to attend a single day
ride leader course. The course covers route planning, insurance, data
protection, how to lead a ride, running events, safeguarding and incident management.
All participants take away a professional 60-page course manual for future
reference. The first pilot events were held in Guildford and Blackpool
with ~ 50 participants on the 20th September. These went very well
with great feedback from participants, and 30+ courses will follow across
the UK. See: http://www.ctc.org.uk/news/20150901-free-1-day-ride-leader-course-ctc-members
PR
The CTC media team has grown since last year. The team now
comprises, David Murray, Head of Communications and Campaigns, Victoria Hazeal,
Senior Communications Officer and Tony Upfold, Communications and Media
Officer. The team are available to support local groups with advice on how to
build effective media relations and write press releases and can be contacted
on 01483 238 315 or via publicity@ctc.org.uk.
Campaigning update
One of our campaigns successes with the ability to make a big
impact this year has been that the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy which
reached the statute book earlier this year, through the Infrastructure Act.
This legislation creates an obligation on government and local authorities to
make clear their cycling infrastructure spending plans in the same way that
they do for roads investment.
The Trails for Wales campaign took up the opportunity in
Wales to support the Welsh Assembly Government’s proposal to widen off-road
cycling access across the public rights of way network. The campaign saw over
4,000 people send in letters of support to the formal government consultation,
which is the highest volume of responses that the Welsh Assembly has ever
received for any formal consultation.
Our Zero Stars for Eurostar campaign working alongside the
ECF (European Cyclists Federation) started on 14 October. It is in response to
Eurostar’s plans to force cyclists to breakdown and box-up their bikes to carry
them on their train services, at a cost of £30. In the first 24 hours we received
the support of 6,000 people, who wrote to Eurostar’s CEO asking that he rescind
this decision before it was planned to come into force on 1 November 2015. I am
delighted to say that this combined effort achieved its aims with news last
Friday of the backdown of Eurostar, A huge well done to Roger, the media
team and all involved.
Elections in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland: ‘Vote
Bike’ and ‘We Walk, We Cycle We Vote’
Following the success of Vote Bike in the run-up to the UK
General election earlier this year, we are in discussions about how to mobilise
the ‘cycling vote’ for the Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish elections in May
2016. However we will need to develop different “policy calls” for each
of the three devolved countries for voters to ask their candidates to support.
The policy-calls for Vote Bike in Wales are likely to be (a)
the funding needed to implement the Active Travel (Wales) Act and (b)
implementing the Trails for Wales proposals. Likewise in Northern
Ireland, the call is likely to be for the funds needed to deliver the very
promising Bicycle Strategy for Northern Ireland, launched in August by former
Regional Development Minister Danny Kennedy AM.
In Scotland, CTC’s New Cycling Development Officer in
Scotland, Suzanne Forup is leading on a campaign for a jointly agreed
walking and cycling manifesto, under the banner ‘We Walk, We Cycle, We Vote’,
collaborating closely with Pedal on Parliament. This will greatly strengthen
CTC’s campaigning visibility and credibility in Scotland.
Inclusive Cycling
During the Spring half term holidays, we launched our Big
Bike Revival campaign, aimed at people who own bikes but have not ridden them
for a year or more. By joining forces with 90 bike recycling centres across
England, Halfords and Raleigh, we ran over 1,600 events in a two week period,
encouraging over 30,000 people to take part and fixing over 24,000 bikes. The
campaign also reached over 3 million people online with our message to fall
back in love with cycling. We hope to repeat this campaign every year with
Department for Transport funding.
Branding
CTC is working with branding agency, Campfire, to review our
brand. Member groups, partners and a sample of CTC members have been surveyed
as part of the research phase. The aim of the review is to develop a brand and
associated materials in order to provide CTC with a strong proposition for
existing and prospective members and supporters. We aim to have rolled out the
refreshed brand ahead of the 2016 cycling season, with a view to launching in
April/May 2016.
Members’ conference
Based on feedback we received at our 2014 AGM, we saw the
value of running various workshops that cover the breadth of our work, as an
engagement tool with our members. On 10 October, we hosted our first annual
Members’ conference at the University of Warwick. We were joined by Joe Saxton,
a leading light in the voluntary sector, and Mark Colbourne, the London 2012
gold medal-winning Paralympic cyclist, to share ideas and best practice on
effective campaigning, group and events promotion and cycling development.
Feedback from the conference has been really positive and so we aim to run
these events annually.
Local News
I am delighted that Jean
Lakin from our Leicestershire and Rutland Member Group achieve 'highly
commended' in the annual awards. Jean works relentlessly to support
cycling in the group, across Leicestershire and the East Midlands. She
steadfastly provides catering, often single handedly and volunteers to
help with the many events that take place. Where would we be without Jean, a
well deserved award.
In addition to this Andy
Townsend from our Lincolnshire Member Group was nominated for and awarded a
certificate of merit for his sustained and successful work on behalf of the
county. Andy working with Rodney Jelfs has successfully made the council halt
plans for a bypass in order to make better provision for cycle crossings as
well as being a pivotal in getting new members and current members to cycle in
the area. He launched a womens ride earlier this year, enticing a really
great ambassador of cycling Melanie Carroll to take a lead role following her
work with Breeze (BC). Finally I couldn’t miss the significant success when
achieved when Andy managed to get the CTC exhibiting in the castle grounds at
Lincoln for the National Championships which took part in the summer
during a festival of cycling over the whole weekend. It was great to see the
CTC in the centre of things and I was very proud to support Tim Newberry and
Andy at the event. So for Andy a more than deserved this award.
My Election as Vice-President of ECF (European Cyclists
Federation)
I was absolutely delighted at the beginning of
the summer to be voted in against stiff competition from many other countries.
I intend to link my work with CTC and ECF to maximize campaigning and
supporting better, more and safer cycling for all.
Mince Pie Run
So my final words are to keep safe during these short
days and long nights and decreasing temperatures and if you want to join
hundreds of other cyclists - The annual
Mince Pie Run is on the 20th December when cyclists from near and far assemble
at Belton Village Hall 10.30-12.30am. Most will arrive by bike and be rewarded
by a hot drink and mince pie.
Jaki Lowe
East Midlands Regional Councillor
and Trustee
