We’d like to provide balance bikes to all local nurseries in Edinburgh.
Having balance bikes available to children attending nurseries will increase opportunities for Edinburgh’s children and families. More people making more journeys by bike as a means of transport will help make cycling safer, more normal and more popular.
In the long term thanks to providing balance bikes to the nurseries we will make a real difference to children and their family’s life, have a good impact on local communities and also make lots of children smile.
We aim to place at least 2 balance bikes in each nursery. It doesn’t seem a lot but 2 bikes means that at least 60 kids will benefit from the bikes in each nursery, every term.
At the moment we’re running the project to introduce balance bikes to nurseries. Edinburgh Council has kindly provided initial funding for us to supply 2 balance bikes to 25 nurseries in the most disadvantaged areas. We would like to extend this project and raise enough money to supply balance bikes to all Edinburgh’s nurseries, or at least for as many as we can manage to raise money for.
We will start first with the most deprived areas, continuing on from our existing project, making sure that all kids regardless of their background have a chance to play on bikes.
We know how important it is for kids to be active. It helps them to stay healthy and reduces obesity rates. Being active also has a great impact on learning abilities, helps focus and develops their social skills.
We also want to normalise cycling from very early on, by letting kids play on bikes and by treating bikes as part of everyday life.
We believe that active and healthy kids turn into healthy and active adults – cycling is a skill for life!
We live in times where we face a big problem of physical inactivity. Many people live sedentary lives, spending most of their time sitting inside their workplaces and homes, driving from place to place. As a result we move less than ever. As we already know this doesn’t have the best impact on our physical and mental health.
It’s not a great example to set to children. That’s why we want to change it. We want to show kids how great it is to be outside, how much fun it can be to play on bikes and how easy it is to cycle a bike. We’d love to spread our love for bikes to all kids in Edinburgh, and maybe even the whole of Scotland, to help foster a lifelong love of bikes.
There are lots of positives about the balance bikes and here you can find some of them… (surely you can add more good things to the list)
We believe that our project will have a long lasting positive impact on children’s lives.
We believe that offering bikes to the nurseries will help many kids to learn how to cycle a bike and get into the habit of being active and spending time outdoors.
The bikes which we will be providing to nurseries are brand new, and sturdy and good quality, so they will last many years. We will also provide a repair service to keep them safe and in a good shape for a long time. Each nursery will also receive a pump to avoid flat tyres and prevent bikes being left in the back of the shed because of this minor problem.
Each nursery will also receive information on the balance bikes and what the benefits are of using them during free play outdoors. This information will be also accessible to children’s parents and carers to make sure they are aware of the project and its benefits.
We will also monitor and analyse the whole project to make sure we know the outcomes and whether we can implement any improvements and help the nurseries’ staff and parents.
We’re a recycling charity which provides a range of services to promote cycling and sustainable transport within the community. We work with voluntary organisations, local communities, schools and youth groups providing everything from cycle training, guided rides, fleets of bicycles, training sessions and events.
We’re also Scotland’s largest bicycle recycling organisation. We recycle and refurbish bicycles, giving them a second life and at the same time providing affordable bikes to local people who might not otherwise have been able to afford a new bike.
All our work and activities are focused on promoting cycling and encouraging people to ride their bikes safely. Whatever we do, we don’t do it for our profit.