EVERY primary school in Stratford will soon have its own bike bus.
Simon Storey of social enterprise Cycle Infinity, who has already set up bike buses at four of the town’s primaries, has now secured funding from Stratford Town Trust to create routes for the other four – Bridgetown Primary, Bishopton, Shottery St Andrews and St Gregory’s. He aims to have them in place by the end of the next academic year.
Bike buses allow children to ride safely in a group together to and from school, accompanied by adult volunteers.
Father-of-four Simon, a former county-level rugby player who is the Bicycle Mayor for Warwick district, first organised a bike bus in Leamington in 2020 after his daughter asked him why they didn’t cycle to school more often, and other parents told him the number one barrier for them was safety.
He was despondent when initially it drew little interest, but after a year it suddenly gained traction with more and more families wanting to get involved.
Simon said: “The old adage of ‘build it and they will come’ applies. There’s a blueprint that can be copied by pretty much every school, which starts with getting in with the school to describe what a bicycle bus is to teachers. It’s not that we need schools’ permission – the essential thing is we want to use that network. I then have a meeting with parents who are interested in the area. I get an idea of where the houses are, and from there I will plot a route that’s safest way.
“I will lead those bike buses for at least six to eight weeks, once a week. I try and identify a parent who is keen and interested in how a bike bus works – they don’t necessarily need to be an experienced cyclist. More often than not, a parent steps up and takes it on.”
