Two Hackney projects scooped prestigious London Cycling Campaign awards last week. Hackney came out on top for its Frampton Park Estate bike lockers project and Family Cycle Clubs, a project funded by the local strategic partnership Team Hackney and delivered by STA Bikes at variety of locations in the Borough.

The Family Cycle Clubs won the Best Cycling Initiative for Young People or Children in London. The project came about in the summer last year. Cllr Rita Krishna, Hackney Council’s Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, suggested that existing cycle training for families should be expanded, to help tackle childhood obesity and increase cycling in areas where few people travel by bike.

STA Bikes, Hackney’s cycle training provider, which offers free bike lessons to anyone working, living or studying in the Borough, drew up a programme to target key groups, in partnership with the Council’s Streetscene team. Team Hackney provided £30,000 funding to continue and expand existing family cycle clubs in two schools, and also on estates and in parks. The scheme was so successful that it has been commissioned for another year.

Various events and training took place in the Sir Thomas Abney Primary and Tyssen Community Primary schools in Spring 2008. Nearly 200 children and adults took part in the free training, with parents training alongside their children. Events also took place at Milton Grove, Wilton Estate and Fellows Court over the summer.

Sally Haywill, Director of STA Bikes said: “We are thrilled to have won the Best Cycling Initiative for Young People or Children, for a second time, the first being in 2003. This really was a joint venture between us, the Council and Team Hackney. The fact that this award reflects the hard work of everyone involved is superb. It’s particularly special because there’s so much excellent work going on with children, in other parts of London.”

Cllr Krishna said: “What’s really fantastic about this project is that hundreds of young people and their families, from a wide range of backgrounds, got involved, learnt how to ride a bike safely and are now really enjoying the health benefits. Many people who took part had never cycled before but now own their own bikes and know how to maintain them.”

The second award was for Best Cycle Facility. The Frampton Park Estate bicycle lockers project was launched in June 2008. The tenants and residents association initiated the project to deal with bike storage problems on the estate. 56 lockers were provided in 16 locations across the extensive Frampton Park Estate, which has 1200 properties.

Terry Edwards, Chair of the Frampton Park Estate Tenants and Residents Association said: “On behalf of the residents of Frampton Park Estate, I would like to say thank you to everyone involved including the local LCC group, Bikeaway, TfL, the police, Hackney Homes and the Council for getting the lockers installed and for winning this prestigious award for our estate. Also I must say a huge thank you to our residents for their hard work in making the project a success.”

“The lockers have made a huge difference. Bikes no longer need to be carried up flights of stairs, or stored on balconies or corridors, where they weren’t safe and caused an obstruction. We hope to see even more residents taking up cycling.”

For more information about cycling in Hackney please contact the Streetscene team on 020 8356 2897or visit http://www.hackney.gov.uk/movebybike.htm.