‘A third of children cannot ride a bike’
Drive is launched to get more families cycling
HEALTH: despite a growing appetite for cycling following the Tour de France Grand Depart in 2014, new figures by British Cycling and by HSBC UK have revealed a third of Yorkshire children cannot ride a bicycle.
DESPITE A growing appetite for cycling following the Tour de France Grand Depart in 2014, new figures have revealed a third of Yorkshire children cannot ride a bicycle.
According to research by British Cycling and by HSBC UK, 45 per cent of parents in the county have not ridden a bike in the past year.
Julie Harrington, CEO of British Cycling, said: “The Tour de France Grand Depart in Yorkshire four years ago had an enormous impact upon the popularity of cycling in the region, and we’ve got the UCI Road World Championships to look forward to next year.”
But she said although the sport of cycling was seeing an upturn, that was not being translated to grass roots cycling and in particular to children.
British Cycling and HSBC UK yesterday launched an initiative at the Brownlee Centre in Leeds to address the problem.
Ready Set Ride is a new threestage online guide to help children to cycle.
Leeds-based BBC TV presenter Helen Skelton joined families in playing fun games as part of the initiative. She said: “If we are to transform Britain into a healthier, happier and greener nation, we have to equip our children with the vital skills they need to ride a bike from a young age and we believe that this new initiative is the perfect place to start.”
The event, attended by more than 30 children aged between two and eight, was held to encourage children to stay active over the summer as children face inactivity away from regular PE lessons at school.
According to Public Health England, almost 60 per cent more children in their last year of primary school are classified as “severely obese” compared to when they first started school.
One of the factors contributing to rising childhood obesity levels is that parents aren’t exercising themselves. Ms Skelton, a former Blue Peter and Countryfile presenter, hosted the Ready Set Ride-along event. The mother of two young boys is married to Leeds Rhinos rugby league star Richie Myler.
She hopes to encourage other families through the learn to ride programme, which provides a range of fun games and activities for parents and children to work through together.
“As a busy working mum with two young children I know what it is like trying to find the time to do things with them,” says Ms Skelton. “But what I like about this is that it is free and a lot of the work has been done for you. You don’t even need to have a bike to do one of the games. There are few things more important in my mind than teaching your kids to ride a bike.”
Luke Harper, HSBC UK’s Head of British Cycling Partnership, said: “We have developed, with British Cycling, a great set of bike hacks that will help get children on to two wheels. There are significant benefits of riding a bike in terms of keeping our kids active, giving them an important life skill as well as having a positive impact on the environment. It also gives us a great opportunity to create a greener, fitter, healthier Britain.”
The programme forms part of HSBC UK and British Cycling’s eight-year partnership, which aims to inspire two million more people in the UK to get on their bikes by 2020.
We have to equip children with the vital skills they need to ride a bike. Julie Harrington, CEO of Britsh Cycling, talking about the Ready Set Ride event in Leeds.