Forth Valley College’s Active Travel team have been extremely busy since the turn of the year as they promote active and sustainable travel to and from the college.
Larissa Purves (Walking and Cycling Officer) and Aileen Webster (Active Travel Coordinator) have been developing positive and popular events and were happy to share some of the things they have been up to recently.
On 8 March they held walking and cycling events at Forth Valley College for International Women’s Day. In the Steeple Suite at the Falkirk Campus, two amazing women told those attending about their journeys on how they got into cycling.
Larissa, said: “One woman was already a keen cyclist at Falkirk Bike Club, but the other got into cycling through her job at the NHS. It was great to hear about their cycling stories so far and it definitely inspired the attendees to cycle.
“We also had a walking Scavenger Hunt at all three campuses which highlighted inspirational women who were famous walkers, cyclers and runners. The scavenger hunt proved to be popular with over 90 participants.”
In the last week of March, the Active Travel team held their Sustainable and Active Travel Events again at each of FVC’s three campuses, promoting travel and the sustainable partners the College works with.
Larissa, went on: “The smoothie bike, e bike trials and the upcycled jewellery from old bike parts were the biggest hits of the week, and there were also plenty of bikes to be fixed at our free Dr Bike sessions.
“We have run two successful four week blocks of bike maintenance classes after college, in partnership with Forth Environmental. Participants have learned how to fix a puncture, worked on derailleur gear set-up and adjustments and brake set-up and adjustment. Due to popular demand we are hoping to have another four week block in the evenings soon between 6-8pm for both students and staff. So please keep an eye on notices in E-focus and E-zine for further dates for Dr.Bike and bike maintenance classes.
“You might have also seen Active Travel doing a bit of filming around campus with Paths For All? This was to highlight all the amazing things we have done at the College to promote active travel. Thank you to all the volunteers that assisted in the filming and the case study. Keep a look out for the Active travel video on the College website soon.”
After the February break, Active Travel along with the Forth Valley Student Association organised a four week bespoke Step Count Challenge.
Larissa, added: “We had 25 staff and student teams taking part and the winners were ‘Walking 2 Win’ with over 2 million steps! There was a real buzz around the college regarding the step count challenge and congratulations to all who took part.
“We still have our regular lunch health walks for both staff and students on a Monday, 1pm at Falkirk, Tuesday, 12.45pm at Alloa and Wednesday, 1pm at Stirling.
“The health walks last for 30 minutes and are a great way to get exercise and a break from your desk or classwork. Since the weather should be getting better, we are planning on doing some longer walks and bike rides.”
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The Active Travel team are always keen to help promote active travel in the College at any campus with staff departments, classes and individuals. We can assist with different activities such a Nordic walking, group bike rides, Personalized Travel Plans and bike lock exchanges.
We also have teams page we will like to use to promote active travel events.
If any departments/classes would like to get involved in being more active and sustainable in the college, please get in touch with either Aileen Webster – Active travel co-ordinator aileen.webster@forthvalley.ac.uk or Larissa Purves- Walking and Cycling Officer larissa.purves@forthvalley.ac.uk
