Title: Free balance bike offer – repeated by popular demand! Summary: Apply here for up to ten free balance bikes for your school. These “pool bikes” are to be kept in the school for use at playtimes and in PE lessons for example. They should not be taken out of school. Target school(s): Nursery and Primary Specific schools Schools must have up to date travel plans For attention of: Heads, STP Champions, PE teachers Author: Richard Evans Contact: Richard Evans Email: [email protected] Telephone: 020 8753 3344 Date: 11th January 2016 Action required/  Check that you have somewhere to store them at the school. If they due date: would be stored outside, a large tarpaulin is adequate to protect them from the worst weathers.  Reply to [email protected] by Friday 22nd January.  Tell me how many bikes you want for your school – maximum ten.

Last year we teamed up with our cycle training providers, Bikeworks, to offer free recycled balance bikes to nursery and primary schools in H&F. This offer proved to be very popular: 25 schools and nurseries took 226 bikes between them.

So we are now repeating the offer. Points to note:  Only schools with current travel plans need apply.  We will prioritise schools that did not apply last year.  Schools that received balance bikes last year can reapply if they want more bikes and we will deliver subject to budget limitations.

We are able to offer up to ten of these bikes per school. What is a balance bike? A balance bike has brakes, but no pedals/chain/gears, to allow children to focus on balancing alone. It is now well established that children who rely heavily on stabilisers will take longer to learn to ride than those who use balance bikes. The hardest part about learning to ride a bike is learning to balance. Once this notion is mastered, they’re off!

Balance bikes are a great resource during playtime. One of Bikeworks’ customers, Paul, supervises children during break times at Olga Primary School in Tower Hamlets. Here’s what he had to say: “We got 10 or so bikes from Bikeworks a couple of years ago for our KS1 and KS2 pupils. The bikes are used every single day without fail. They’re the first thing the kids go to when they’re allowed out to play. Not only does it teach them how to balance, which helps get them through quicker when they’re old enough to have cycle training, but it also teaches them how to share and take turns.”

The bikes are saved from landfill and refurbished by Bikeworks to turn them into balance bikes. Each bike is adapted by qualified mechanics and goes through at least 2 safety checks by 2 different mechanics.

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