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25 Jun 2025

The E-Bike Positive campaign has seen major success in the first half of 2025, with its message reaching nearly 8 million people across the UK through high-profile media coverage and growing...

20 Jun 2025

The House of Commons Business and Trade Committee has asked the ACT, and its parent company Bira, to help them reach out to small business retailers across the country, for their quick input on...

20 Jun 2025

Activate Cycle Academy has reopened its Cytech training facility in Darlington, offering a full range of courses from Home Mechanic up to Cytech Technical Three.
 

18 Jun 2025

The Association of Cycle Traders believes the time has come for greater accountability throughout our supply chain, writes ACT Director Jonathan Harrison in an article published for BikeBiz.

16 Jun 2025

The ACT has welcomed the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Cycling and Walking's report "Unregulated and Unsafe: The Threat of Illegal E-Bikes", which calls for urgent Government action to...

11 Jun 2025

A new academic study has found that overzealous pro-cycling campaigners on social media may be inadvertently damaging the case for better cycling infrastructure across the UK.

11 Jun 2025

Bira has welcomed the Welsh Government's consultation on business rate reforms for retail shops, whilst calling for significant improvements to ensure the proposals truly support high street...

10 Jun 2025

Bike thefts across England and Wales have continued their steady decline, according to new data released by cycle insurance specialist Bikmo.

9 Jun 2025

Retailers on Britain's high streets are being encouraged to put themselves forward for the first-ever Love Your High Street Awards, designed to celebrate the small businesses that bring...

9 Jun 2025

 To coincide with Bike Week (9-15 June) – the UK’s annual celebration of cycling – new research has revealed a clear shift amongst Gen Z and Millennials in their approach...

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Funding for walking and cycling prescription trial announced.

Posted on in Business News , Cycles News

Eleven local authorities in England have been funded to enable health workers prescribe walking and cycling to patients.

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The active travel social prescribing scheme, which was launched in August 2022, is helping councils launch a range of projects that will evaluate the impact of active travel on an individual’s physical and mental health, such as through reduced demand for healthcare appointments and reliance on medication due to more physical activity.

Recipients include Bradford City Council, which has received £1.34 million to deliver projects that will see patients offered free access to guided walking and cycling activities, cycle training and bike loans.

In Plymouth, the council is using its £1.2 million share of the funding to help tackle patients’ individual barriers to active travel by working with them to develop personal walking and cycling plans.

Active Travel Commissioner Chris Boardman said:

“Many studies have shown active travel has massive health benefits. Enabling everyone in England to travel under their own steam will help reduce conditions such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes, whilst at the same time, improving mental wellbeing.

We aim to use these trials to build on the existing evidence to show how bringing transport, active travel and health together can help build a healthier nation in an easy and sustainable way.”

Decarbonisation Minister Jesse Norman said:

“This funding will help thousands more people across the country to realise the mental and physical health benefits that walking and cycling brings.

Prescribing walking and cycling will not only improve the health and wellbeing of people across the country but will also reduce pressure on the NHS and help people to choose more sustainable transport choices.”

The full list of allocations for the £13.9 million social prescribing fund is:

  • Bath & North East Somerset Council - £1,612,773
  • City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council - £1,340,145
  • Cornwall Council - £844,641
  • Cumbria County Council - £1,496,432
  • Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council - £665,000
  • Gateshead Council - £1,431,240
  • Leeds City Council - £1,373,444
  • Nottingham City Council - £1,588,785
  • Plymouth City Council - £1,241,722
  • Staffordshire County Council - £834,458
  • Suffolk County Council - £1,490,506

The government committed to fund active travel social prescribing pilots as part of the gear change plan in 2020. The pilots are taking a pioneering approach that will see active travel and health officials work together to develop a whole systems approach to health improvement and tackling health disparities.

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