Northern Ireland

Sustrans work with schools and young people in Northern Ireland

Sustrans currently has two officers working directly with schools in Northern Irleand, as part of the Bike It project.

Running since 2008, it is currently focussed on Belfast and the South East. These officers enable schools to increase cycling rates many times over by helping to write travel plans, organising cycling events and rides, doing assemblies and presentations, facilitating cycle training and maintenance, and emedding cycling in the school ethos and even curriculum.

You can read more on our Bike It pages.

However, Sustrans' work in Northern Ireland on the National Cycle Network and other cycling infrastructure, such as the Connect 2 project, is also crucially important in providing the routes that enable young people to walk and cycle more easily and more safely. We also pioneered a Rural Safe Routes to Schools project with great success.

For information on the NI active school travel projects, contact Beth Harding on 0289 043 4569 or email beth.harding@sustrans.org.uk

Previous Projects

Rural Safe Routes to Schools

The rural SRS project ran between 2007-2008

“I love walking to school because you get fit and your heart beats faster" James

DARD Minister Michelle Gildernew cycling with children from Rural Safe Routes to Schools The project was completed in with some fantastic results:

Children being driven to school dropped from 64% before the project, to 49%
7% now cycle, up from 5%
Those walking increased from just 20% to 33%

You can read more in our Rural Safe Routes to Schools Project Review (pdf).