Emily Farquhar is our I Bike Officer for North Ayrshire
I Bike began in September 2015 in the Garnock Valley and the schools have been welcoming and enthusiastic about the project. This year the project has expanded to the Largs area taking the total number of schools engaged to 15.
What do you enjoy about your job?
When the children love cycling they bring fun, enthusiasm and creativity to every activity making my job genuinely easy to enjoy. I particularly like providing cycling opportunities for pupils who don’t own a bike or those haven’t ridden one since they were little.
What are you trying to do?
The aim of the project is very simple; to support and encourage pupils to walk, cycle and scoot to school.
Travelling to school on foot, bike or scooter is one of the easiest ways to fit physical activity into everyday life. Good for health and wellbeing active travel increases self-confidence, teaches self-responsibility and helps reduces the traffic-jam at the school gates. What’s not to love!
In reality it’s not as straightforward as this particularly when cycling to school is not possible due to the surrounding roads. However supporting pupils to learn life skills such as riding a bike, fixing a puncture and how to be safe on the road helps them to see the bike as a great transport option and will hopefully create good habits in the future.
How are you doing it?
Each school is different so the project and its resources are adaptable to deliver activities that suit the school's circumstances. Promoting walking may not be as glamorous as bike riding but pupils and schools have been just as keen to go on led walks and run walk to school competitions, they just needed a little extra support to do so.
Pupil bike crews and school champions are the ones who make the real difference in the schools and all the I Bike officers couldn’t do it without them.
What’s the best bit about the job?
Some of the best moments over the first year of the project have been the small-scale successes, such as the pupil who didn’t seem interested at first and “hated cycling” who now talks about bikes every time I see them. The pupil who gets frustrated and is disruptive in class but was relaxed, chatty and responsive to instructions when out on a led ride. The pupil who had a bad fall and didn’t get back on a bike for years who then got a new one for Christmas because they learnt to ride confidently. There are too many to mention.
Which schools are you currently working with?
Intensive (year 1 of engagement):
- Skelmorlie Primary
- Cumbrae Primary
- Largs Academy
- Brisbane Primary
- Kelburn Primary
- St Mary’s Primary
- Fairlie Primary
Supported (year 2 of engagement):
- Beith Primary
- Garnock Community Campus
- St Bridget’s Primary
- Moorpark Primary
- Gateside Primary
- St Palladius Primary
- Dalry Primary