MINISTER LAUNCHES LEGACY ACTIVE TRAVEL PROGRAMME

Transport Minister Keith Brown made the announcement at the annual Cycling Summit in Glasgow this morning.

The programme aims to encourage people of all ages to take the first steps towards an active, healthier lifestyle.

It will be delivered by a range of partners including CTC/Youth Scotland, Cycling Scotland, Forth Environment Link, Paths for All and Sustrans.

The commemorative cycle stands celebrate the success of Team Scotland at the Games, with medal-winning athletes nominating public places across Scotland where a stand in their medal colour can be installed.

Transport Minister Keith Brown said:

“This new programme encourages people of all ages to take steps towards an active, healthier lifestyle and outlines how the success of the Games has had a positive impact on Scotland’s communities.

“It goes without saying that cycling and walking benefits the individual with not just physical benefits, but benefits for mental health, the environment and keeping people's transport costs down.

“I am also delighted to unveil the first Commonwealth Games commemorative cycle stand to be installed here in Glasgow. Securing a lasting legacy from the Games is being made possible through the excellent partnership working between a whole host of organisations and sectors – local and national, public and private – and all of Scotland’s local authorities and this scheme further spreads the benefits across the country.

“The Scottish Government aims to get more people making active travel choices to improve health and the environment. During this year and next we are increasing our expenditure on cycling and walking infrastructure by a further £27 million to deliver projects that promote active travel for everyday commuter journeys.”

Charlie Flynn, Boxing Gold Medallist said:

“The Commonwealth Games was such a fantastic experience for me and it’s brilliant to see the legacy of Glasgow 2014 being continued. I have chosen to place my own cycle rack in my home town of Motherwell where hopefully it will encourage people to think about using more active forms of travel. Boxing and staying healthy is my life but it’s easy for everyone to make small changes to be more active and choosing to cycle or walk over taking the car or train is a great way to get started!”

Christopher Johnson, Senior Development Officer, Cycling Scotland said:

“Promoting active travel is at the heart of everything we do at Cycling Scotland, and the huge range of benefits that come from cycling are undeniable. Cycling improves health and productivity and Cycling Scotland’s projects such as Bikeability Scotland, Cycle Friendly School and Employer Awards and the Give Me Cycle Space campaign support and enable thousands of people of all ages and abilities to cycle more often. So whether that means cycling to school, work, the shops or to visit friends and family, the Active Travel Legacy Programme will help to make cycling an achievable everyday activity for thousands more people across Scotland.

“It was encouraging to see so many people cycling around Glasgow during the Games, whether pedalling to and from venues, beating the traffic to work or making use of the Legacy cycle racks and the city’s brand new public bike hire scheme. We look forward to supporting a lasting legacy from this year’s Commonwealth Games by encouraging even more people across Scotland to take to two wheels as part of the Active Travel Legacy Programme.”

Ian Findlay, Chief Officer of Paths for All said,

"We are pleased to see that walking is central to the Active Travel Legacy Programme. Walking is the most accessible form of travel, one that almost everyone can use in daily life.

“Active travel has many benefits. Scottish people will be a healthier in body and mind if more people walk or cycle for short journeys. Children will have safer routes to school and local facilities; older people will feel more connected with their communities; employers will have a healthier and more productive workforce; Scotland will reduce its use of carbon; and local economies will benefit from increased footfall. Everyone benefits.

“We are delighted to lead in the development of the National Walking Strategy action plan and contribute to creating a healthy legacy from the Commonwealth Games.”

Notes to editors

The Legacy 2014 Active Travel Programme is the 55^th national Legacy programme. These programmes have been put in place by the Scottish Government and its partners to secure a social, cultural and economic legacy for the whole of Scotland from the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

For more information on Legacy 2014, visit www.legacy2014.scot or follow @Legacy2014scot

The Commonwealth Games Commemorative Cycle Stands were launched by the First Minister on 2 August. He gave a commitment that every medallist would receive a cycle stand in the colour of each medal they won. In all, 78 medals were awarded and each athlete has been asked to nominate a site in Scotland for their individual stand. Cycling Scotland received a grant of £100,000 for this project and Keith Brown, Minister for Transport has unveiled the first of the 78 Commemorative stands in George Square, Glasgow. There will be 26 gold, 31 silver and 21 bronze stands installed from today.

This is part of a wider initiative where in total 206 Legacy 2014 cycle stands will be installed across Scotland. This provides an additional 2060 parking spaces at workplaces, schools, hospitals, libraries and on high streets. 128 Legacy stands, some of which were used at Games venues are already being re-distributed across Scotland.

The following projects feature within the Legacy 2014 Active Travel Programme:

CTC/Youth Scotland - Bike Club
Cycling Scotland - Bikeability Scotland Cycle Training
Cycling Scotland - Cycle Friendly Employers
Cycling Scotland - Cycle Friendly schools
Cycling Scotland - Cycle Friendly Campus
Cycling Scotland - School Cycle Camps
Cycling Scotland - Give Me Cycle Space campaign
Forth Environment Link - Cycle Hub in Stirling

Paths for All - National Walking Strategy (including nine individual projects)
Sustrans/Cycling Scotland - Legacy and Commemorative cycle parking stands
Sustrans - I-Bike
Sustrans - Community Links projects
Sustrans - Active Travel ChampionsForth Environment Link - Cycle Hub in Stirling

Bike Club Scotland is a partnership project run by Youth Scotland, the national network of youth clubs and groups, and the CTC, the national cycling charity. Bike Club Glasgow will support 15 young leaders, aged 16 to 24, already in a youth club or community organisation, or looking to use their new skills to set up a cycling group or project in their local area, at college or in their community. The young leaders will be provided with a bespoke training programme that will allow them to develop the skills and knowledge that they need. The young leaders will then provide cycling activities for and with the group people in their community or group, reaching out to many more young people, and their families through the programme.

Youth Scotland is the network of youth clubs and groups across Scotland. It is the largest non-uniformed youth organisation in Scotland and delivers quality youth work programmes, information, resources, training and support to community based youth work across Scotland. Youth Scotland has a membership of over 1,200 groups, with almost 61,000 young people and around 7,400 youth workers.

Cycling Scotland is the lead organisation for cycling promotion in Scotland. Cycling Scotland, with grant funding from Transport Scotland, promotes cycling as a healthy lifestyle choice, a sustainable transport mode and as a significant contributor to Scotland’s tourism economy. Cycling Scotland is fully committed to playing a central role in assisting the Scottish Government and its partners and stakeholders to achieve the vision set out in the Cycling Action Plan for Scotland. Cycling Scotland also deliver Bikeability Scotland, a cycle training scheme is designed to give children the skills and confidence they need to cycle safely on today’s roads.

The Stirling Cycle Hub encourages and supports people to get on their bikes. They are passionate about cycling in all its forms and about the benefits it has both for the individual and for the community. The Hub is funded by Transport Scotland in partnership with Scotrail and is managed by Forth Environment Link.

Paths for All is a Charity and is the champion of everyday walking in Scotland. Paths for All’s aim is to significantly increase the number of people who choose to walk in Scotland - whether that's leisure walking or active-choice walking to work, school or shops. Paths for All want to create a happier, healthier Scotland, where increased physical activity improves quality of life and wellbeing for all. Paths for All work to create more opportunities and better environments not just for walking, but also for cycling and other activities, to help make Scotland a more active, more prosperous, greener country.

Sustrans makes smarter travel choices possible, desirable and inevitable. We are a leading UK charity enabling people to travel by foot, bicycle or public transport for more of the journeys we make every day. We work with families, communities, policy-makers and partner organisations so that people are able to choose healthier, cleaner and cheaper journeys, with better places and spaces to move through and in.