Space for Cycling have launched space4cycling.org a standalone website for the safe cycling initiative run by the London Cycling Campaign (LCC). The launch comes ahead of the LCC’s annual conference on October 19 as they look to increase the influence of their campaign for safe cycling.
It’s been a busy three months for Space for Cycling which was started in response to a number of cyclist deaths in London this summer, specifically that of 20-year-old student Philippine de Gerin-Ricard near Aldgate on Friday 5 July 2013. The first Space for Cycling ride took place there a week later.
Since that first Space for Cycling ride the organisers have utilised social media so effectively that the movement, which began very locally, has now gained national resonance. The initiative has been picked up in Birmingham and Manchester by the cycling campaigns in those areas.
In early September a group gathered to increase the visibility of cycling in Birmingham as well as furthering the LCC’s campaign. Later in the month, a group of Mancunian cyclists rode on the Conservative Party Conference to lobby for more 'space for cyclists'.
The next step for Space for Cycling is to start influencing the lawmakers. The LCC have targeted local elections in London as their best opportunity to impress their ideas on those that will be running the city in the near future.
Creating a standalone website now is a clear signal of the campaign’s intent, and their plans on having a tangible impact on the government by influencing the candidates for the next year’s local elections.
In a blog post on The LCC website their new activism coordinator Amy Summers said: "In 2014 we're aiming to do something no other campaign group has ever done, and influence every candidate in every ward in Greater London.”
"To succeed in our ambitious plan, we'll need to persuade tens of thousands of Londoners across the city to support our campaign.
"This requires strong messaging and sophisticated electronic tools, but also an army of activists to spread the word and build support in their neighbourhoods."
The LCC’s annual conference is being held this Saturday at the London Metropolitan University on Holloway Road.
"but I had just been stuck for 50 mins, I didn't want to be held up any further"
You had a frame!!?!! Luxury. I started out with 4 twigs and 2 tennis balls...
If that driver still has a job after that then Sainsbury's should be held criminally liable when he inevitably kills someone...
We used to have one but the wheels fell off...
I haven't visited the tweet about this, I suspect it would make me very angry at these people and I would not be able to avoid taking issue with...
Unfortunately effective negative reinforcement is even more lacking than positive reward for Doing The Right Thing......
if only they would stick to burgers, insted of getting involved in town planning.
I doubt the horses in the new forest or dartmoor get cyclist training. But they seem completely indifferent to cyclists. So what are the horse...
exactly. Unless there's something that stops them (oh, wait, black boxes..)
You're right about the bypass though, it makes it much more pleasant to ride through the town at any time of day, including the old road north out...