Before Christmas Play on Pedals celebrated reaching over 7,148 children since we began two and a half years ago.
Children celebrated with Santa at a Play on Pedals drop-in session in Govan on Saturday 3rd December, where they had the opportunity to try out balance and pedal bikes and receive support from Play on Pedals Instructors to learn to pedal; Dr Bike mechanics also provided bike safety checks and Santa was there to meet and congratulate the children.
This event was one of 230 community events we have delivered across Glasgow since 2014. We’ve also trained 364 instructors and instructor Trainers to teach children to ride, and given grants to 35 Hero Organisations to develop the project locally. 182 nurseries and childcare establishments across the city now have trained Play on Pedals Instructors.
The children that have learned to cycle with Play on Pedals have developed both physically and socially, with changes to their confidence, resilience and interactions with their peers being noted by instructors. Those who have learnt through their early years establishments have enjoyed at least eight weeks on the bikes, learning how to balance, steer, brake and pedal.
Over 550 balance and pedal bikes are now in use across Glasgow thanks to the project, enabling the continued delivery of training and activities for preschool children.
Polly Jarman, Play on Pedals Development Officer said:
‘We are delighted to have reached so many children with Play on Pedals; we’ve worked really hard to deliver high quality training and to provide lots of fun opportunities for children to get involved, so we are over the moon to have achieved our dream. It’s been a huge but massively rewarding challenge, and we want to thank the groups and individuals across the city who have supported the project and helped us to enable every preschool child in Glasgow to ride a bike.’
