On Tuesday 17th January, the groundbreaking and innovative Pedal Revolution Academy was launched at Sir Thomas More School, Norwich to introduce cycle sport to Norwich and Norfolk schools.
Pupils at Sir Thmoas More School celebrate their graduation from the inaugural Pedal Revolution Academy
The project is the brainchild of leading Norfolk cycle retailer Pedal Revolution and is delivered by the innovative social enterprise ActivatingCIC. It has a bold vision of introducing 32 local schools to the enthralling and exciting world of cycle sport during 2012. Although cycle racing is becoming ever more popular in the mainstream with Mark Cavendish recently winning the BBC Sports Personality of the Year and with cycling ranked top of our Olympic medal table at the last Olympiad we do not offer cycle sport through our school curriculum. It’s a problem that the Pedal Revolution Academy removes and hundreds of Norfolk school children are set to benefit.
Schools across Norwich and Norfolk are snapping up the places on this unique scheme – which is free to schools and pupils thanks to the vision and passion of Pedal Revolution. “We wanted to offer a taste of cycle coaching, training and racing to our local schools so we could share our passion for bikes, sport and competition” described Pedal Revolution MD Gareth Edwards. “If youngsters do not get the opportunity to try cycling they could live their whole life without realising their potential in our sport. We would love to find the next Mark Cavendish or Sir Chris Hoy but it’s not about that – it’s all about offering an introduction to the sport and developing grass roots cycle sport through establishing an infrastructure to let schools experience the thrill and excitement of cycle sport” he added.
ActivatingCIC, who run a successful schools cycling project for East Coast Community Healthcare in Great Yarmouth, recently completed a survey from nearly 2000 pupils and parents and have a tremendous insight into the local cycling behaviour, trends and a solid understanding of the barriers that prevent us from cycling.
“We know that around 80% of adults own bikes but 70% of adults will not ride more than once a month. The key barrier to adults and hence children riding is the perception of traffic dangers. The facts from the Department for Transport evidences that 11 times more accidents, injuries and deaths occurred to pedestrians and motorists in 2010 but we still perceive cycling to be more dangerous. The second barrier is that we have a fear that we are not physically fit enough to ride from A to B and be able to get back home again! The final barrier is that because we do not ride regularly, our bikes have fallen into a state of disrepair and we lack the skills to remedy simple bike repairs ourselves.” explains ActivatingCICs Kevin House
The Pedal Revolution Academy plans to change all this for 32 lucky local schools. The project offers schools a four part introduction to cycling and cycle sport:
1. Pedal Revolution delivers an engaging assembly to the school highlighting the amazing benefits of a physically active lifestyle, how cycling can easily become a vitial component of that and inspires pupils with a rousing multi-media cycle sport presentation.
2. All pupils, parents and staff riding to school will receive a FREE bike safety check, mini-service with minor repairs (punctures, cable replacements etc) where necessary to ensure their bikes are usable, safe and fit for purpose.
3. The 9-11 year olds will be offered an afternoon’s coaching and racing with the British Cycling Pedal Revolution Academy trained coaches including the fundamental skills of any budding racer – cornering, sprinting and group riding. The afternoon concludes with team races and trials to identify the top 8 riders in terms of hard work, effort and speed that will represent the school at the next stage.
4. Later in the school- term, clusters of 6-8 local schools will contest their local Pedal Revolution Interschool’s Cup with teams of 8 riders from each school competing in individual and team races to find the top school team.
Such is Pedal Revolution’s commitment to the programme that they have commissioned a Pedal Revolution Academy mobile workshop containing a fleet of Ridgeback and Giant bikes, all the necessary safety and coaching equipment so that the programme is inclusive to the widest possible catchment within the community. “It’s is big investment, but one we have enjoyed creating over the last few months” confesses Gareth Edwards. The look on the faces of the first Academy Graduates from Sir Thomas More School agrees that the vision of the project is likely to be a resounding success.
The emphasis is not entirely on pure speed, as ActivatingCICs Neil Turner explains. “We are passionate about how raising physical activity levels can make a big difference to personal performance, self esteem and confidence at school, in the work-place and within our everyday lives. Research proves that as our physical activity levels rise so does our resilience and we are more likely to realise our potential. Cycling is such an easy way to improve our quality of life and it can save us a fortune in petrol and travel costs.” he adds.
The first academy school agrees. “We had a tremendous uplift in the number of pupils riding to school. We can now appreciate that cycle sport is an excellent way to illustrate to our pupils that hard work, focus and determination can make a significant difference. Our pupils loved the challenge, relished the hard work and enjoyed the thrill of racing. I would love to see the Pedal Revolution Academy return to the school again, hopefully as an after-school club.” stated Steve Fordington, Deputy Head.
The project is warmly supported by British Cycling – the UK’s National Governing Body for cycling. Nigel Hampton, Regional Development Manager is enthusiastically supporting the initiative. “The project provides a fantastic opportunity for young people to engage in a cycle sport coaching programme. Young people will be able to develop their cycling skills in a fun environment. It is British Cycling’s aim, along with our key partners, to boost cycling at the grass roots level. The Pedal Revolution Academy will help grow this vision”.
For riders inspired by cycling after the Pedal Revolution Academy, they are pathways for them to further develop their passion, skills and techniques through the local Norwich cycling clubs such as VC Norwich (www.vcnorwich.co.uk) and the Great Yarmouth Cycling Club (www.greatyarmouthcyclingclub.co.uk) that hold fortnightly traffic-free coaching for young riders at the Great Yarmouth Stadium. Additionally, the Pedal Revolution Academy will be offering after-school clubs and an engaging school holiday coaching programme across the region.
If you would like to register your school for the Pedal Revolution Academy then please contact Neil or Kev at info@activatingcic.co.uk
