Modeshift’s Active Travel Ambassador Team celebrate Campaign Junction Event success across the regions

Active Travel Ambassador (ATA) Campaign Junction Events and Campaign round up

That’s a wrap!

As the summer term approaches, the 2023/24 ATA Campaign Junction events draw to a close. This year, 11 multi-school events were held nationwide which saw all 750+ Ambassadors pitch to experts in the active travel sector to secure funds to deliver their campaigns. After receiving expert advice from Bikeability, Living Streets, councillors and local experts, and taking inspiration from other schools, the Ambassadors are ready to put their ideas into practice. We are incredibly proud of the Ambassadors and wish them every success in their campaign delivery.

5 x Pupils at Claydon High receiving large certificate

Images: Suffolk Campaign Junction Event, Experts and Claydon High School receiving cheque.

King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Girls Walking Bus

Living Streets Walk to School Week is a fantastic opportunity for schools to encourage pupils to travel by foot instead of by car. The Ambassadors at King Edward VI Camp Hill Girls School took the chance to launch their ‘Park and Stride Get Outside!’ campaign and set up a Walking Bus through Kings Heath Park, awarding the form with the most walkers a picnic in the summer term. The rain did not deter the pupils, with 64 pupils ‘onboard’ the bus by the end of the week. Ninestiles Academy also promoted walking by displaying promotional material around the school. The 5- day Walk to School Week takes place in May each year – what could your school do to promote walking?

Images: King Edward VI Camp Hill Girls ‘Park and Stride Get Outside’ Logo and Walking Bus in action. Ninestiles Walk to School week promotion.

Bikeability Partnership

To achieve modal shift it is essential to provide young people with the skills, competence and confidence to walk, wheel or cycle to school. That’s why the Active Travel Ambassador programme is delivered in partnership with The Bikeability Trust, to promote cycle training in schools and see an increase in the number of pupils travelling this way. To enable this the Ambassadors at Applefields school recently engaged in a full week of Bikeability sessions delivered by City of York Council, which involved on-road, off-road and playground training. Bikeability commercial partners, Frog Bikes and Madison, kindly donated helmets to the school which meant all pupils could take part in the training. To further promote safe travel, the Ambassadors have opened their own ‘Satel-light, Be Bright’ shop at Manor C of E school which is a satellite site to Applefields main school. Reflector tags and stickers are for sale, and all funds raised are directly reinvested to support active travel activities.

Images: The Applefields Ambassadors engaging in a Bikeability cycle training session delivered by York Council. The Satel-light, Be Bright enterprise established by the Applefields Ambassadors

Leeds City College ATA in a Day

Another day, another group of pupils trained as ATAs! This year we have offered schools ‘ATA in a Day’, a condensed version of the full programme for schools with limited capacity. In one day, the Ambassadors at Leeds City Academy completed a morning traffic count, site audit, travel behaviour interviews, set targets and formed a campaign idea. Not only that, they also presented their campaign idea to a class of Year 7s, the senior leadership team and a representative from Leeds Council. The pupils will deliver their Park and Stride and car sharing campaign in the summer term with a view to re-launch their campaign during TravelWise Week taking place 16 – 22 September.

Images: The Leeds City Academy Ambassadors completing the site audit and traffic count during ATA in a Day.

Active Travel competitions begin

The Ambassadors at Oasis Brislington have trialled their ‘Clash of the Classes’ active travel competition on Year 7s before launching the competition to the whole school this summer. As the title suggests, classes are in direct competition to log the most active journeys with a smoothie bike and pizza party on offer! We can’t wait to see how many active trips are logged during the whole school competition in July.

Images: Mr Cunningham and ATAC Steph with the smoothie bike, ‘Clash of the Classes’ promotional material.