Bikeability Training Gets a Boost
British Cycling and the Youth Sport Trust have combined to produce 97 newly qualified Bikeability instructors ready to teach future generations the importance of cycling safely on the roads.
In all, 10 courses were run between July and November this year, and given the success, at least 10 more are due to follow in 2011.
British Cycling delivers the courses which are funded by the Youth Sport Trust (YST). Attendees varied in their day-to-day roles from School Sports Coordinators, to teachers to teaching assistants and were encouraged to attend through Partnership Development Managers working for the School Sports Partnerships.
The four day courses are an amalgamation of theory and practical based learning which are specifically designed to ensure successful attendees are provided with all the necessary skills to pass on the valuable lessons of cycling safely to pupils throughout the country.
Local cyclist and Chase High School sixth form pupil George Pearl was featured earlier on this site for becoming the youngest qualified Cycle Instructor at just 18 years and 12 days old and it is the breadth of attendee in age, location and vocation that has particularly impressed Sarah Cleall-Harding, British Cycling’s Senior Coaching and Education Officer.
She said: “It is great that so many different people are taking up the opportunity for training through British Cycling’s partnership with the Youth Sport Trust.
“Bikeability is a valuable tool for instilling the skills of cycling safely into young people and adults alike, so the more instructors that are qualified the better.
“We enjoy delivering our courses with YST’s help and to have nearly 100 people successfully pass our Instructor Training course already is brilliant. However, we have tough targets for 2011 and hope to see many more pass through our programmes.”
Kay Batkin nee Garrod, Programmes Development Manager at Youth Sport Trust, said: “The partnership between Youth Sport Trust and British Cycling in creating an Instructor and Assistant Instructor training programme for Bikeability has allowed us to extend and develop a high quality workforce that will now go on to create a lasting legacy for Bikeability and cycling in schools.
“The partnership was established to support School Sports Partnerships with delivery and we are delighted with the response to date.”
