Summer of Cycling in West Lothian 03/08/2012

West Lothian’s  Community Youth Service Work with Young People team and Lothian and Borders Police have teamed up this summer to deliver a series of cycling activities to young people in West Lothian.  Every Monday morning they have been offering a bike maintenance session for local young people at various locations throughout West Lothian.  Young people are asked to bring along their bikes to be checked and fixed free of charge and also have their bikes security coded.

I joined them on Monday at Whitburn Community Centre to help out.  20 young people turned up to get their bikes fixed.  In addition to this every Wednesday they have been organising led rides for young people in their local area, providing bikes for anyone who doesn’t have access to their own.

Colin Wilkinson from West Lothian Council and David Thomson from Lothian & Borders Police are two of the staff who have been delivering the summer project.    They have recently completed Weldtech maintenance training to support the delivery of 2 local Bike Club projects at Burnhouse School and Whitburn Academy.  Both projects are using bike maintenance and cycling to engage with pupils to promote a variety of life skills in a practical way.  Through Bike Club the schools hope to:

Teach pupils new skills in bike maintenance and confidence to fix there own bike

Provide pupils with a sustainable means of transport

Provide pupils with the opportunity to have a healthier lifestyle by increasing physical activity levels.