Registration now open for The Big Pedal – Sustrans event aims to get children cycling to school

Sustrans has announced that The Big Pedal will be running again next year from 2 to 20 March. The Bike Hub funded event, now in its fifth year, challenges nurseries, primary and secondary schools to compete against one another to make the most journeys to school by bike and scooter over 15 days.

This year’s Big Pedal involved over 1,520 schools with teachers, parents, siblings and pupils making a grand total of 1,142,374 trips to school on their bikes and scooters. Registration is now open for the 2015 edition. Entrants will receive a wall-chart on which to record their progress, while winning schools will receive prizes including bike and scooter stunt shows and equipment.

The main aim, of course, is simply to get children cycling. Ben Merry, Programme Development Officer at Sustrans, explained:

“The Big Pedal is fun, inclusive and it helps schools to encourage whole families to lead more active lives, as well as reducing car traffic and pollution around the school gates.

“Although the competition runs for three weeks, it has a lasting effect on the way that the school community travel to school; last year 76% of schools who took part in the Big Pedal said that pupils continued to cycle and scoot to school following the event.”

Phillip Darnton, executive director of the Bicycle Association, said he hoped thousands of schools would sign up.

“Many youngsters love to ride bikes and scooters, and they do it because it’s fun. The Big Pedal shows children that cycling to school is not only fun, but that it can also help you to stay healthy, and helps reduce traffic around the school gates too.”

To register, go to bigpedal.org.uk. Sustrans has also provided a range of related resources for teachers on its website.