|
  |
|
|
From Small Beginnings
When a group of people got together on 7 July 1977 in a Bristol pub to discuss ways to improve the city’s transport system, nobody could have guessed quite what would be achieved over the 30 years that followed. But that meeting was the seed that grew into Sustrans, the UK’s leading sustainable transport charity. Chief Executive, John Grimshaw, was one of the original founders – he believes that the charity’s work today is as important as it was 30 years ago. “In 1977 we had an oil crisis and became concerned about fuel supplies – that faded away then, but has reared its head again now, so our aims are equally valid.” Having built a handful of routes for walkers and cyclists between the mid 80s and early 90s, the charity won a lottery bid of £43.5 million in 1995 and was able to stitch together existing paths and build more to create the National Cycle Network. Many of the routes are dotted with wonderful artworks and sculptures making people’s journeys pleasant and interesting, and there is a band of over 2,400 volunteer Ranges which help the charity to keep these routes safe and attractive for people to use. By focusing on practical and imaginative projects the charity is really getting results in changing the way people travel. Now around 12,000 miles, Sustrans’ flagship project is seeing the number of people using the routes grow year on year. In fact, last year over 338 million trips were made on the Network – 27% of which were made by people who could have used a car but chose not to. The 338 million trips represent a potential saving of 437,000 tonnes of C02. Sustrans’ work with schools is also getting results. Bike It, a practical project operating in over 200 schools in England is achieving average cycling levels of 10%, when the national average is a depressing 1%. And with over 30% of children saying they’d like to cycle to school, there is potential for this figure to increase further. So what next for the charity; what will Sustrans focus on over the next 30 years? With climate change and obesity at the top of the political and public agendas, Sustrans’ work to encourage people to travel in ways that benefit their health and the environment needs to continue. Making it possible for everyone to walk and cycle remains Sustrans’ main aim, and the charity’s current bid to the lottery takes this challenge forward. Connect2 is one of six projects competing for £50 million in the Big Lottery’s People’s Millions. The project is actually made up of 79 schemes across the country to re-connect communities cut off by busy roads, motorways or rivers. If successful, Connect2 will build bridges, crossings and tunnels to make it possible for people to travel by foot or by bike instead of having to use their cars. It is with this kind of vision that Sustrans will continue to help tackle climate change, congestion and obesity, and to help improve the quality of life for people today and tomorrow.
|
Contributor's Note
This article is from Sustained Issue 5 published in October 2007.
|
|
http://www.sustrans.org.uk/
Gateshead Millenium Bridge
No reactions yet.
Please login or sign up to rate this intel.
Please login or sign up to add a comment.
The copyright for this content entitled "From Small Beginnings" has been specified by the contributor as:
All Rights Reserved
This content may not be copied, distributed or adapted by anyone under any circumstances.
|
 |
|
This intel was contributed by Sustained
Sustained
|
May, 2012
2008
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2009
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2010
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2011
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2012
January, February, March, April, May
|
|
Not a member yet?
Qondio is a powerful network for making it online. If you have a website to
promote, we can help.
Sign up and get in on the action.
|
|
Welcome to Qondio! Discover the awesome power this network can deliver by going to our About page. Or you could skip straight to the Sign Up form.
|
|
