Active Travel Challenge 2022

1. What journeys do you currently do cycling / walking /and/or using public transport to get to work, to do the school run, to go to shops, to get to leisure activities, for example?

Even within our small team at Developing Healthy Communities we are all so different when it comes to walking or cycling. Some of our team walk or cycle everywhere, while the rest of us sometimes need a bit of a push.

In Derry City & Strabane we have some fantastic green infrastructure, and more planned for the future, but we’ve also got some really rural areas. Our colleagues who live in smaller towns or villages can find it a lot harder to leave the car at home for essential journeys but we all love walking for exercise or just to take a break.

2. What are the benefits for you of walking and cycling and or using public transport for everyday journeys?

As a health charity we’re well aware of the benefits of staying active for our physical health and our mental health too.

Walking and cycling are simple, cost-effective ways of being more active, and can be a key protective factor in the prevention and management of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as cardiovascular disease, type-2 diabetes, and a number of cancers.

3. When, if at all, do you walk, cycle or run during your leisure time, simply for the purpose of getting exercise? What do you do?

One thing that we all love to do is get out for a walk, whether that’s on our own or as a team. Often that is in our own neighbourhoods or along one of our local greenways but we’ve also spent team days walking in the Roe Valley Country Park or taking a walking tour of our own city.

4. What impact did lockdown have on your walking, cycling, use of public transport and exercise habits?

During lockdown, daily walks were a really important way for our team to get away from the laptop screen and break away from the pressures of work over a lunch break or at the end of the day.

One team member credited their daily walk around the neighbourhood as crucial for maintaining their mental health during lockdown.

Now we’re spending a bit more time back in the office it can feel a little harder to fit active travel into our busy lives. This year’s Active Travel Challenge has come at the perfect time to remind us of how walking and cycling helped us get through a difficult few years, and to prompt us to find ways to include active travel in our new day-to-day routines.

5. Why you would encourage people to participate in the active travel challenge this year? Did you take part in 2021?

Our Best Small Workplace trophy from last year’s Active Travel Challenge has pride of place in our office and we’d love to give it some company, but that doesn’t mean we’re afraid of a little competition. We’d encourage any business or organisation to take part and swap some of their daily journeys for trips by foot, bike or public transport.

Joe Newby

“When I moved from the Netherlands to Belfast, I thought nothing of getting on my bicycle to get around the city. I quickly realised that in Belfast, unlike the Netherlands, cycling was not considered a grown-up means of transport. Cycling was (and is still) seen by some as a child’s play activity or a sport. Nobody seemed to realise that you could just leave the car at home for short trips to work, shops or for leisure.

Thankfully, over the years, attitudes have changed and now, especially with the cost of fuel increasing, I am no longer alone on my cycle commute. As the numbers increase, so do the types of bikes that enable all-age, all-ability cycling.

I see cargo bikes. I see tricycles and hand cycles for people who struggle to walk unassisted, with or without electric motors helping them out. I see people carrying children to school, doing shopping trips and like me, going to work on a bike with a handy crate. Many are dressed for the destination – there is no need for expensive cycling gear if you only go a short distance at slow speed.

There are many reason why people cycle. These are my reasons:

It is good for me. After a strenuous and demanding day at work, there is nothing better than cycling along the Lagan Towpath and enjoying the river, the plants and animals. It gives my brain a chance to unwind and resolve knotty problems at work.

Usually, I have my better ideas after a few kilometres cycling. It has been quite some time since my last sickness absence and I credit cycling for improving my health and keeping my weight and blood pressure down.

It is good for my wallet. Cycling is cheap. A full tank of petrol for a modest car now costs up to £100. A cycle journey requires no petrol; I can go for miles on nothing more than a bowl of cereal and cup of coffee. I can go even further on the promise of some chocolate! You can buy a very expensive bike through the Cycle to Work scheme for the cost of one month’s worth of motoring.

It is fast and convenient. When the roads are congested and grind down to complete gridlock my cycle journey remains unaffected. It takes me 25 minutes to cycle home, 20 if I am in a hurry, regardless of traffic conditions or weather.

I can usually park my bike exactly where I need to be, without circling the block for a car parking space. The radio news announcing a bus strike or a broken-down lorry on the Westlink does not fill me with dread.

It is good for the community. Cars can be useful. I own a car, I use it for journeys where cycling or public transport is not a viable option. However, too many people drive their cars needlessly on too many short journeys. Driving cars causes air pollution, noise pollution and congestion. Cycling causes none of that.

It is good for the planet. Cycling emits hardly any carbon dioxide and as a result cycling does not add to global climate change the way driving does.

I hope to see you on your bicycle soon, trying it out, giving it a go. Even cycling to work one day a week will make the world of a difference."

Borghert Jan Borghmans

Former Lord Mayor Kate Nicholl always wanted to cycle but had been scared to. As part of her environmental challenge, Kate wanted to ditch the car and cycle to City Hall, as well as use her platform as Lord Mayor to promote active travel. A cycle training course with Sustrans gave Kate the confidence to realise her ambitions. Kate tells us her story...

I’m an Alliance party councillor and was Belfast Lord Mayor from June 2021 to May this year.

During my time in office, I wanted to increase awareness of the environment by taking on a different environmental challenge each month.

I’d always wanted to cycle but had been scared to.

I thought taking up the challenge to ditch the car and cycle to City Hall would not only be a good way to overcome my fears but also enable me to use the platform of Lord Mayor to promote active travel.

Sustrans is one of my official mayoral charities and they encouraged me to get cycling again.

From our conversations, it was also clear that there are gender issues within cycling.

Many women like myself lack the confidence to cycle; and while improving infrastructure is the main issue, training can really help too.

I enrolled in Sustrans' six week Women into Cycling programme to help me overcome my fears and to set an example to other women.

"The course gave me a new found confidence - I don’t know myself. From feeling rigid with fear on my first cycle, to now confidently knowing my right to be on the road, I honestly can’t believe the transformation."

You can feel empowered too
For the first few months, I religiously stuck to the same routes but I’m now happy to cycle to places I haven’t been before.

To any other women who want to get into cycling, I say "just do it".

It was nerve-racking to start with, but in my experience most things that are worthwhile are.

The programme is just perfect and the wonderful Sustrans leaders will give you all the tools you need and more.

You’ll feel incredibly empowered afterwards.

Thank you Sustrans for making me better and more confident at cycling.

Belfast Lord Mayor - June 2021-May 2022, Kate Nicholl