9 March 2010
Cycling Scotland success for University
Photo opportunity: 2pm on Wednesday, March 10th outside Dundee University Students Association. Environment & Sustainability Officer Trudy Cunningham will receive the Cycle Friendly Employer Award from Chris Johnson of Cycling Scotland.
The University of Dundee has become the first employer in Tayside to receive an award recognising efforts to encourage staff to leave their cars at home and cycle to work instead.
Chris Johnson, Active Travel and Education Officer of Cycling Scotland, will meet with representatives of the University on Wednesday, March 10th, to congratulate them on their achievement and present them with a Cycle Friendly Employer Award. The University had to meet strict criteria laid down by Cycling Scotland in order to qualify for the award.
Trudy Cunningham, Environment & Sustainability Officer, will accept the award on behalf of the University. She said the award recognised the work that had taken place to encourage staff to make more environmentally friendly and health-conscious travel choices.
'The University is keen to promote sustainable travel, and encouraging staff to cycle to work is obviously part of this,' she said.
'We're delighted to be the first employer in Tayside to receive this award, but we certainly wont be resting on our laurels. We’ll keep highlighting the fact that leaving your car at home, and getting on your bike instead, is a win-win situation.
'Cycling to work has benefits for all - it’s good for the environment because it helps lower carbon emissions, it's good for the cyclists financially and for their physical and mental well being. It's good for the University as it reduces the number of cars on campus and reduces our footprint.'
The University has introduced several schemes aimed at encouraging staff to get on their bikes, and help reduce its environmental impact, in recent years. A Cycle to Work initiative allows staff to hire bikes and safety equipment at a cost-effective, tax-free rate that avoids an expensive initial outlay, while a bike pool is available for staff who wish to travel around the University estate on two wheels.
Approximately five per cent of staff and three per cent of students currently commute by bike, and a Bicycle Users Group is well established at the University. New racks, partly funded by TACTRAN, have been installed across the University campus to allow cyclists to safely park and lock their bikes outside the most commonly used buildings.
Cycling Scotland’s Cycle Friendly Employer Award is run in conjunction with the Scottish Centre for Healthy Working Lives. The aim of the award is to give employers the incentive to achieve a nationally recognised award for promoting cycling in the workplace which will result in benefits for employers and staff alike.
The award also provides best practice guidance in relation to cycle commuting and can be used as a practical tool to implement cycle measures as part of a sustainable travel plan.
The award is open to any organisation in Scotland that encourages their staff to cycle to work. This could be for any number of reasons, such as to promote active travel with the aim of creating a healthier workforce, to support environmental policies or as part of a travel plan.
For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk
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