Velocity is delighted to have just found out we have a year of Climate Challenge Fund money to work in depth with employees traveling to work and children traveling to school.

The aim for Inverness is that 10% of journeys by 2020 will be made by active travel and we have just received funding to help move this dream closer to reality.

Velocity’s new project GoByCycle will use individualised support to encourage and enable people to make the shift from cars to cycling and walking. We will develop individually tailored support packages working alongside employees and school children across the city who say they could make the shift to cycling and walking but would benefit from support to do so, pushing active travel towards the target of 10% by 2020.

We’ll have a really flexible approach where you can tell us what would help you ride or walk to work. It’s all about what works for you as an individual- Someone to cycle next to you for a few days on your actual commute? Individual cycle skills sessions on the roads you’ll be riding? Someone to chat to about the fastest or safest way to work? What to wear? What bike to buy? Motivation in the form of a competition? Skills to help you keep your bike on the road? We can offer all of this, for free, for a year thanks to the Climate Challenge Fund.

We’ll also be working with 4 primary schools over the year supporting and encouraging children to cycle, walk and scoot to school in place of being dropped off by car. Along with an inter-school competition we’ll set up bike and walking trains, encourage car sharing and bag drops and give children the skills to get to school safely. There’s a big emphasis on legacy from CCF so we’ll be looking for support from parents and helpers to carry on the work that is started in this year to ensure it continues long after the funding ends.

We’re delighted to have been given funding. We’ve been told that there was a huge number of applications so we’re delighted to have been successful.