At its most basic level, Active Travel is simply the promotion of walking, cycling or wheeling as a means of boosting fitness and reducing the number of journeys by car. This, in turn, helps to promote a shift towards healthier and more environmentally friendly travel.

In an event organised by the school’s Travel Ambassadors - a group of ten students whose responsibility it is to promote Active Travel to their peers and the wider school community - staff and students were encouraged to walk, cycle, scoot, skate or car share to help reduce the number of vehicles on the school run.

Representatives from the East Riding Safety Team were also on-hand to offer bike repairs and cycle safety checks as part of their on-going support of the school’s young cyclists.

Also championed was the concept of ‘park and stride’, an initiative which encourages those travelling from further afield to drive part of the way before parking up and walking the rest of the journey. It is a scheme that is gaining traction nationally which not only provides benefits to health and well-being, but also reduces congestion around the school gates.

To help encourage participation in last week’s event, all those who made a concerted effort to travel more sustainably for the day were handed a raffle ticket for automatic entry into a prize draw. A wide range of prizes, from skateboards to scooters, and footballs to swim vouchers, were awarded to over 40 participants in recognition of their efforts.

Among those taking part was Sarah Harris-Smith, Head of Humanities, who cycled an impressive 60-mile round trip from her home in Beverley. In doing so, Ms Harris-Smith became one of five staff who were rewarded for their efforts with a £15 voucher for use in a local café. 

The prizes were funded by the Travel Ambassadors who, earlier this year, impressed a panel of judges during a Dragon’s Den-style pitch to industry experts at County Hall, Beverley, to secure £1,000 towards their campaign to encourage sustainable travel

Supported by Modeshift - a national organisation that supports schools and businesses to create effective travel plans – the ambassadors put a considerable amount of work into their campaign over a number of weeks. Its prime focus was the need to boost Active Travel through safer cycling and walking routes to and from school, and the further promotion of healthier lifestyles and environmental considerations.  

The judging panel, which included Councillor John Whittle (Chair of East Riding of Yorkshire Council), Emily Cherry (CEO of the Bikeability Trust) and Jennifer Wiles (Head of Behavioural Change Programmes at Active Travel England) gave the students some outstanding feedback and were particularly impressed by  their ideas surrounding sustainability, as well as their future plans to link closely with local primary schools.

Overseeing the work of the Travel Ambassadors is Nick Richmond, ​​School Sports Coordinator and Teacher of PE, who said: “The students involved put lots of hard work into their campaign, exploring ways in which we can increase Active Travel in our school community and beyond. They delivered their pitch with confidence and enthusiastic presentation skills and were excellent representatives of our school.”

Comprising £250 from Modeshift, £250 from East Riding of Yorkshire Council and £500 from Active Withernsea, this £1,000 investment is already helping students to achieve their ambitions.

Nick added: “Thanks to our Active Travel day and incentive scheme, we saw a huge increase in active travel – with the main contributors being student cyclists and staff car-sharers. When compared to prior data, the number of staff actively travelling to school doubled, as did the number of students cycling. Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with many students indicating that they are keen for their efforts not to be a one-off. I would like to say a big ‘thank you’ to everyone for promoting the Active Travel day and for helping us strive towards our aim of making a healthier, happier and more active Withernsea.”

As one of nine pilot Active Travel Ambassador (ATA) schools across the East Riding, students at Withernsea High School continue to benefit from working in partnership with The Bikeability Trust, the charity responsible for delivering the national cycle training programme in England, and Modeshift.

The ATA project is being coordinated by East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s sustainable transport team who, over the past year, have been working closely with both the high school and its neighbouring primary school to engage with staff and students through a variety of behavioural change and road safety initiatives.

The promotion of Active Travel has become a nationwide priority for the benefits that it brings in terms of improved public health, better air quality, increased road safety and reduced carbon emissions.    

Thanks to its participation in the ATA scheme, Withernsea High School’s wider school community has already benefited from the launch of a bike library, which sees refurbished cycles loaned out for free to students. In addition, there have also been free cycle helmet amnesties, swapping old for new, and handouts of free cycle lights and locks to promote safety, security and visibility.

Opportunities to attend cycle maintenance courses, where students can learn basic repairs, have also been offered – as have ‘Dr Bike’ clinics where students’ bikes are safety-checked and, where possible, repaired to further help address some of the initial barriers to safe cycling.

Reflecting on the wider impact of this work, Nick Richmond, who is also a Children & Young People's Physical Activity Co-ordinator at Active Withernsea, added: “The students have responded really well to our Active Travel programme. Since the launch of our bike library, and thanks to initiatives such as the helmet amnesties and free locks and lights give-aways, we have seen an increase in students cycling to school. Through this continuing work, we aim to encourage and enthuse young people to become more active for a greener environment and the health benefits that increased activity can bring.”

Christian Jordan, Assistant Road Safety Officer from East Riding of Yorkshire Council said: “We are very excited to be working with Withernsea High School, and in close partnership with Modeshift, to deliver the ATA programme. We hope the incredible work carried out so far, and the exciting plans for the future, create a real behavioural change on the home-to-school journey. We are extremely proud to have nine Active Travel Ambassadors in place across East Riding secondary schools in this exciting trial programme designed to empower schools from within.”

Back in March, Mr Jordan visited the school with the Safety Team’s ‘Smoothie Bike’ – a pedal-powered means of blending fruit to make fresh fruit smoothies. This proved to be extremely popular, with many students queuing up to take part.

More recently, a brand-new weekly cycling club has been established at the school – offering participants an opportunity to extend their cycling knowledge, improve their racing skills and do basic stunt work using ramps and other obstacles.

Meanwhile, the promotion of cycling and Active Travel as a whole will continue into the next academic year and beyond as the ATA ambassadors continue to help educate and inspire the school community. Long term, it is planned that the continued partnership working will enable the school to build a collection of shared cycle resources that could help it become one of the first in the country to add cycling to the curriculum as part of PE lessons. 

ABOVE:  Withernsea High School’s Active Travel Ambassadors presented their campaign proposal to a panel of judges at County Hall, Beverley. 

ABOVE: After impressing the judges, the ambassadors received £250 funding from Modeshift and £250 from East Riding of Yorkshire Council. These were matched by Active Withernsea who contributed an additional £500. 

High School students 03: Archie Hare gives the Smoothie Bike a whirl. The fruit for the smoothies was kindly donated by Tesco, Withernsea. 

ABOVE: Left to right – Max Ford, Louie Eldon-Thompson and Thomas Midgley watch on as Harrison Walker pedals the smoothie bike.

ABOVE: Deborah Watkins, one of the school’s Active Travel Ambassadors, who helped to run the Active Travel day.