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The Antony Lord Foundation in association with www.rsct.org.uk
ONE BRAIN., ONE LIFE … ONE CHANCE!
LOOK AFTER IT !! PATRON: Jon Snow |
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Finally as a result of new funding that is coming into the county for training at Bikeability levels 1 & 2, the foundation is pulling back although the website will stay active as a reminder not to become complacent!! The funding is coming into Cornwall via Cycling England in conjunction with the DfT and Youth Sport Trust (who manage the Schools Sports Partnership network) so that Partnership Development Managers are given grants to distribute directly within their School Sports Partnerships introducing Bikeability into schools in Cornwall, which we had hoped would be in place by the commencement of the new academic year however the instructors are now actively trying to work out logistics with the schools requesting training. Although this school year the funding is only available to Y6 children rather that including Y5s because it is limited, it is a start and one that is leading in the right direction ... there are somewhere in the region of 10 accredited instructors within Cornwall who will be delivering the courses under the guidance of the 4 Partnership Develop Managers for the primary schools across the counties including Wendy, Emma Rowe and Steve Rowsell. If our efforts have helped just one child, then it really is 'Job done' although that is the one thing we will never know for sure ... fingers crossed! And for as long as it took us to achieve it, thank you to everyone who supported the Antony Lord Foundation. Or as Jon said "I’m proud to be associated with the Antony Lord Foundation. Antony was killed riding a bicycle. His mother’s determination to persuade other children to get cycle training was a courageous response to her unimaginable loss. As a cyclist and the father of daughters who cycle, I regard what she has achieved with gratitude." Joanne
Generally speaking, Level 1b/2 Bikeability, in an ideal world is aimed at all Year 5s and 6s - Cycling England has proposed to DfT to fund Bikeability such that all children would have the opportunity to do their Bikeability (to level 2) before they left primary school. As yet there is no news however, this would likely be around 400,000 children per year if CE are successful. They hope to be achieving this goal by 2010 though clearly significant scaling up is required Having said that, there is absolutely nothing stopping parents from asking Wendy to run courses outside of school for those who are in the lower classes still. If a younger person has the right kind of aptitude, you simply cannot tell them they not to ride their bike until they older, rather need to help them learn what it takes in terms of riding safely on the roads in today's traffic conditions so private courses can always be commissioned too! |
