Exeter: Get ready for Summer Cycling at the Bike Club local launch 05/03/2010
Posted by lizzie87 in Exeter.Tags: Exeter
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Bike Club has been really popular in the last few months and here is a chance to come and check out how Bike Club can help with all the ideas you’ve got brewing for cycling in Exeter over the summer months. We’ve already got one project started on planning cycle tours in the Scottish Islands!
Please feel free to pop into the local event taking place at Riverside Leisure Centre in Exeter on the 9th March from 4 – 5.30pm.
It will be a chance to hear about how Bike Club can work with your organisation to set up regular cycling activities for young people. You can also find out about how young people’s cycling can be accredited through the Youth Achievement Awards and hear what else Cycle Exeter are working on to make cycling more accessible to everyone.
Perhaps even take advantage of its nifty location on the lovely Exe Cyclepath and ride down to find out how groups can help develop their plans for after school and out of school cycling activities. This Cycle Exeter map might help…
So whether you are a teacher, a youth worker, a volunteer just someone with a passion for cycling that you want to share with those who are less experienced, come and find out how Bike Club can fit in with your work and activities.
Please let Lizzie Evered (lizzie.evered@bikeclub.org.uk 07825 983 465) know if you can make it on the day. If you can”t make it and are still interested, get on touch for a chat about ideas and what Bike Club can offer your group.
A Buzz about Biking in Leighton Buzzard 03/03/2010
Posted by Tejesh Mistry in Aylesbury, Leighton Linslade.Tags: Aylesbury, BMX, Leighton Linslade
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My last on screen TV experience was standing in an airport in Calabar, Nigeria reporting on the delayed flights for the traffic report at Cross River Broadcasting Corporation. In stark contrast to that, today I found myself sitting on 10th floor of County Hall, Aylesbury answering questions about Bike Club for Leighton Buzz’s first pilot TV show.
Leighton Buzz is a volunteer led community group that will run monthly online TV shows on their website which will be dedicated to featured shows about the local community and interesting things going on around the area.
Leighton Buzz has caught the cycling bug and will be promoting the cycling activities, events and achievements of cyclists in the area in partnership with the Leighton Linslade Go Cycle Team and Bike Club.
Could Leighton Buzz have a Bike Club? I hope so.
There are loads of opportunities for your friends and family to get involved with being part of the production of material for the show. These could include cycling films and showing off the skills you have learnt on a bike. You could show off your BMX and mountain biking skills, document your cycling campaign idea, learn to be a cameraman (or woman!), try presenting a film or experiment with some editing software.
Leighton Buzz – http://www.leightonbuzz.com/
York, the place to talk about Bike Club. 03/03/2010
Posted by Patrick Carr in York.add a comment
In the midst of a chaotic last week (the northern Cycling Town teams descended on York; Bike Clubs sprang up around me as I stood; yet another blizzard engulfed the hill I live on) people gathered in York’s historic Guildhall to talk about Bike Club.
It was York’s Local Network Event, the chance for professionals and practitioners to find out how Bike Club can work with them to engage new young people in cycling. We had a varied attendance: from local councillors to young people’s advisors; from school governors to breakfast club staff, all of whom enjoyed the generous pastries on offer. The theme was “Building Partnerships”. It’s a feature of our work: the creative and flexible way in which Bike Club can partner other organisations to deliver real support to young people. The message wasn’t lost on those who came- they now want to be part of it too.
Big thanks to York City Council and their Cycling City York team, who helped support and promote the event- the first of many of its kind in York and across the country. Woking’s next on Thursday 11th March, as followers of our esteemed Bike Club blog will know.
Bike Club launches funding opportunities in Woking 26/02/2010
Posted by roserickford in Woking.add a comment
Bike Club has only one rule: there are no rules! Yes, in Bike Club you can do what you like because almost any cycle-related activity can form a Bike Club.
The national scheme, led by CTC, UK Youth and ContinYou, helps groups of children and young people to benefit from learning opportunities through cycling and is officially launching in Woking with a networking event on Thursday 11 March 2010.
Woking now has its own dedicated Bike Club Development Officer to help you set up your own club. If you would like to hold maintenance sessions, go on organised bike rides or set up an off-road biking club, then Bike Club can make it possible and can even offer financial help, with grants of up to £2,000 available.
Rose Rickford, Woking’s Bike Club Development Officer, is hosting the Bike Club launch and networking event at Woking Leisure Centre, Woking Park, Woking, from 10am to 11.30am.
Find out how Bike Club can support you in setting up cycling projects for young people and families and chat to other potential partners at the event. Tea, coffee and cake will be provided.
For more information about Bike Club in Woking, contact Rose Rickford, Bike Club Development Officer, by emailing rose.rickford@bikeclub.org.uk or by calling 07826 927264
More application dates for Bike Club grants 25/02/2010
Posted by Clive Andrews in Uncategorized.add a comment
We are receiving a fantastic number of applications for Bike Club grants. Some clubs and groups are planning to set up weekly cycling groups, others are looking to establish maintenance sessions and there are some planning creative projects. It’s been a fascinating process looking through the ideas from Bike Club applicants.
To take into account the volume of applications, we are introducing an additional application date in March, giving a further opportunity to submit your bid for Bike Club funding.
To apply for a Bike Club grant, email your application to Clive by midday on one of the following dates:
- Monday 22 March 2010
- Monday 26 April 2010
- Monday 24 May 2010
- Monday 23 August 2010
Application forms and guidelines are available online.
If you have any questions, email Clive or call him on 07717 721511
Did you hear about that extreme triathlete? 19/02/2010
Posted by Patrick Carr in Uncategorized.add a comment
Having an interest in cycling, I’ve followed the progress of some amazing people who choose to cycle across continents, alone for months, facing amazing challenges, mainly through their blogs. Working with CTC means I’ve even met such people. Until now, Dan Martin was just another of them. No longer. He hit the news this week as he plans his stunningly abmitious global triathlon. He’s set to swim the Atlantic from Nova Scotia to France, cycle from there to Siberia, then ditch his bike somewhere near the Bering Strait (not in it, I hope) and run the rest of the way across America. This from a seemingly very ordinary bloke from Peterborough. I’m in awe of the whole project.
I’m really hoping he manages to do it- and I’ll be checking in with interest to see if it’s the storms and sharks he’ll swim through, the Siberian winter he’ll cycle (the rivers and swamps are passable only when frozen) or the perpetual pounding of pavement are his biggest challenge.
Somehow I think it’ll be none of these. The battle with himself will be the greatest. Thanks, Dan, for your inspiration. You’ve certainly sparked my ambition; for work, for life, and for the future. Oh, and thanks for tweeting me back!
Join the Bike Club team in Scotland – Two vacancies now open 11/02/2010
Posted by Clive Andrews in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Scotland.Tags: Edinburgh, Glasgow, jobs, Scotland, Vacancies
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Bike Club Development Workers – Scotland
As Bike Club extends its work into Scotland, we are recruiting for two new people to join the team:
Bike Club development worker based in Glasgow
salary around £24,000
Bike Club development worker based in Edinburgh
with a national remit - salary around £28,000
Bike Club is an innovative new project to create new cycling clubs and activities for children and young people, funded in Scotland by the Asda Foundation.
In Scotland, Bike Club is delivered by a partnership of CTC (the national cyclists’ organisation), Youth Scotland and ContinYou.
We are looking for Bike Club development workers to be responsible for delivering the project, working closely with existing networks of staff and volunteers in formal and nonformal learning settings.
You will need to demonstrate a good knowledge of community-based
cycling or physical activity projects and programmes; work experience across a range of community and youth work settings; and a track record of developing training and learning programmes.
The closing date for applications is 12 noon on Monday 1 March 2010. Interviews will be held in Edinburgh on 15 and 16 March 2010.
For an information pack please contact Youth Scotland:
email:
office@youthscotland.org.uk
address:
Youth Scotland, Balfour House, 19 Bonnington Grove, Edinburgh. EH6 4BL
phone:
0131 554 2561
Or download an information pack from:
http://www.youthscotland.org.uk/vacancies/bike-club-development-officers.htm
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Family Cycling in South Lakeland 02/02/2010
Posted by Damian Bonsall in Cumbria.add a comment
One of the first enquiries that Bike Club received was from an extended services cluster based around Milnthorpe in South Lakeland.
The Extended Services Cluster Manager for Milnthorpe area, Angela Franklin, decided that cycling was an ideal activity for family learning and she had the idea of offering various cycling related activities culminating in the chance to take part in the Three Counties Challenge ride in July. I was delighted to support her application to become one of the very first Bike Clubs because of the opportunity it presents for whole families to enjoy healthy exercise and to learn new skills. Young people between 10 and 20 years old can of course take a leadership role in planning, organising and helping to lead the activities.
The extended services concept is about offering opportunities to communities using school premises and resources outside of normal school hours for informal learning. It is a government initiative which has been running since 2005 and has some really exciting links to Bike Club’s objectives and ambitions. One of Bike Club’s key partners, ContinYou, are experts in the whole field of extended services.
The Milnthorpe extended services cluster consists of eight rural primary schools and Dallam High School. The project will be a partnership between a range of organisations including the police, Cumbria County Council, Cumbria Tourism, Kent Valley Road Club and Bike Club. I am really looking forward to working in partnership with these organisations and to seeing the success of the initiatives as the summer unwinds.
The menu of activities is to include teaching under fives to ride without stabilisers, a bike to school day, family cycle skills sessions, bike maintenance sessions and a trip to Manchester Velodrome to try out track cycling. Training will be offered to willing volunteers to become ride leaders so that the project is sustainable in future years.
It is great to be finally seeing a Bike Club project get of the ground and I look forward to blogging about the fun we’ll be having getting ready for the Three Counties Challenge.
Bike Club launched at events in London and Manchester 28/01/2010
Posted by Clive Andrews in Uncategorized.add a comment
Last week, we officially launched Bike Club at two events, one in London and one in Manchester.
Bike Club is all about creating opportunities for children and young people to learn, explore and enjoy healthy lifestyles, so we invited along a carefully chosen selection of experts and decision-makers from the worlds of health, education, youth work and cycling.
Bike Club was introduced and explained to the delegates by Sarah Troke, our Bike Club manager, and by Kevin Mayne, the chief executive of CTC.
Kevin and Sarah’s presentation slides are shown here, and are interesting to view even without their commentary. If you’d like any of the points explained in further detail, email us or give us a call on 0844 736 8464.
Support from Government Minister and NHS Executive
Delegates at our London launch heard an address from Sadiq Khan MP, the Transport Minister, who spoke of the importance of cycling within the Department for Transport’s policies.
At the Manchester Bike Club launch, we heard from Mike Farrar, the chief executive of NHS North West, who spoke passionately about the role of cycling in influencing the health of young people and families.
We then turned to the expertise of our invited guests, who discussed with our Bike Club development officers a range of ideas, questions and commitments. The range of ideas was impressive, with commitments given by many delegates to work with Bike Club.
Monday’s Guardian Bike Blog took a look at Bike Club, raising some questions and provoking some supportive comments.
What are your thoughts?
Did you join us in London or Manchester? What did you think?
If you weren’t with us, are there any questions you would have asked if you were in the room?
Feel free to share your thoughts below.
Bike Club: Ready for launch! 14/01/2010
Posted by Clive Andrews in Uncategorized.add a comment
In many ways, Bike Club has already launched. We have eight highly enthusiastic development officers who have spent the last few months introducing Bike Club to important people in their regions. We have many youth groups benefitting from our advice and guidance on cycling activities, and we have a large pile of applications for the funding we offer to help children and young people get rolling.
But it’s good to give a project like this a more official welcome, so on Monday 18 January and Thursday 21 January, we’re getting together with some of the key decision-makers in cycling, education, youth work and health to discuss how Bike Club will help to address important issues that face children, young people and their families.
We have some big cheeses speaking at the events: Transport Minister Sadiq Khan will be addressing us in London, and Mike Farrar, of NHS North West, will be sharing his thoughts in Manchester.
We’ve already invited a bunch of key people to join us on Monday in London and in Manchester on Thursday, but if you work in one of our Bike Club areas, you’re a decision-maker in health, education or youth work and you’d like to join us, drop me an email or call me on 07717 721511, ansd I’ll see if we have room for you.
If you’re from the press, or you’re a blogger, then this press release about the Bike Club launches tells you a bit more about what’s going on.
