Ten new bikes funded through Cycling UK, will allow Forth Valley College to offer various cycle sharing schemes to staff and students at the Falkirk Campus.
The College applied to Cycling UK’s Cycle Access Fund and were awarded £18,768 to purchase cycles and equipment that enable cycle sharing schemes such as bike libraries, pool cycles, bike subscriptions schemes, loan cycles and bike share schemes. The support enabled FVC to purchase 10 new Ridgeback hybrid bikes of various sizes from College partner, Recyke-a-bike, along with helmets and bike locks.
The grant also allowed the College to purchase facilities for storing and parking cycles, and two cycle hoop storage pods from Greasemonkey – each able to store six bikes – have been installed in the Falkirk Campus service yard.
Kenny MacInnes, Forth Valley College Principal, said: “It was great to meet Gordon Webber from Cycling UK when he visited the College to see our new fleet of bikes and the storage units we have installed thanks to his organisation’s very kind funding award. We are grateful to Cycling UK for this support and we can guarantee the new equipment will be put to good use to encourage more people to think about cycling as an enjoyable way of keeping fit and of travelling to and from work and their studies.”
Gordon Webber, Development Officer at Cycling UK, said: “It has been great to support Forth Valley College through our Cycle Access Fund. These cycles and storage will continue to promote inclusivity and support those who might not have access to a cycle of their own, for both health and local journeys.”
Pauline Donaldson, FVC’ Soft Services and Sustainability Manager, said: “We are delighted to be in receipt of funding from Cycling UK’s Cycle Access Fund which has enabled us to purchase fleet bikes and cycle storage. This will support our Active travel team with delivery of cycling related activities with students and staff and remove any barriers with students that do not currently own a bike.”
Aileen Webster, FVC’s Active Travel Coordinator, said: “We are really pleased to receive our new bikes and storage funded by Cycling UK. This will enable the Active Travel team to deliver cycling related activities across all three campuses with students and staff. I am really looking forward to working with participants to build confidence in their cycling skills.”
Pauline Jackson, FVC’s Fundraising and Development Manager, said: “This is our first funding award from Cycling UK and the bike share scheme will encourage our students and staff to start or re-start cycling. The scheme not only supports the area’s Active Travel objectives it will help to reduce our carbon emissions as part of the journey to achieving net zero.”
The Cycle Access Fund supports those least likely to have access to a bike and provides capital grants to organisations through five different funding strands. It allows a wide range of organisations to apply and provides a variety of opportunities for individuals to benefit from the Fund. It aims to help individuals to access a bike in an affordable, easy, and convenient way is a vital contribution to reducing health and income inequality.
Cycling UK says the Cycle Access Fund makes our communities safer and more pleasant by reducing short car journeys. They say that many people in Scotland experience barriers to accessing a cycle and, by offering this funding across different strands, they aim to tackle different barriers and help more people cycle. For more information visit: https://www.cyclinguk.org/
