Just in (my inbox)
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I just wanted to let you know that Cycling Scotland is due to launch the Give Me Cycle Space campaign next week, starting on Monday. The campaign, which has run regionally in various local authorities in the past few years, will have a much more national focus this year as it is supported by nationwide TV and radio advertising.
The purpose of the campaign is to encourage more children to cycle to school. As the major barrier is parents' fear of busy roads, our campaign calls on drivers to be considerate towards child cyclists and give them plenty of space on the road. This message of 'give kids cycle space' is carried on a range of outdoor advertising, which centres around over 130 participating school across 12 local authorities, and is supported by a national radio campaign and a TV commercial, which you can view here
The advert is designed to emphasise the need to give children space, so the child maintains outstretched arms throughout to carry through the 'give me space' message whilst various household objects give her space as she passes, and as the car passes the children at the end, there is a clear demonstration that drivers should pass cyclists leaving plenty of room.
This marketing activity is also supported by a range of interventions in schools. The campaign will run in conjunction with children receiving Bikeability Scotland cycle training, the Riderz stunt team will visit schools to promote cycling to children as a cool and fun activity, a competition will run during the campaign to incentivise children to cycle to school, travel planning sessions to identify quiet routes will be run and all of the participating schools are being assessed for the Cycle Friendly School award. Parents of children in the target schools will also receive a letter highlighting the benefits of cycling, advice on travel planning with local mapping and information on Bikeability Scotland cycle training.
We have seen very positive results for the campaign in previous years, where it has not only had a positive impact on the attitudes of parents and drivers to child cyclists, but also demonstrated a positive effect of the number of children cycling to school which we have tracked through the Sustrans Hands up Survey. I hope you will support our campaign and post the advert on your social media sites and help spread the message.
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