Kegworth Envionmental Day

Other the last couple of months we have manned Sustrans stalls at a number of different events – Summer Sundae in Leicester, St Catherines (Burbage) Green Fair and most recently the Kegworth Environmental day. We have very much gone along with the mindset that we are there to promote cycling first and Sustrans second. These have proved to be very useful from a promotional perspective in:
· Being able to tell people about opportunities to cycle locally (good local knowledge is the key here)
· Explain what Sustrans is about including identify potential volunteers
· Making connections with other local groups who have an interest in cycling.
· Getting feedback on local cycling issues and what stops people cycling or cycling more
From the last point there have been some very consistent keys messages coming back:
“I don’t feel confident enough to cycle with traffic”
“Where can I take my young children to cycle (off road)”
“The local cycling facilities are not good – often cycle routes just end with nowhere else to go”

From the Kegworth event there were a few more specifics that came up:
1. There was very positive feedback for Keith’s Castle Donnington / Kegworth cycle map. This really is looking very impressive and is a long way down the road. The challenge now will be to find someone to publish it.
2. Interest in led rids – particularly of the “getting started / back to cycling” variety
3. Contacts with the “Kegworth Cranks”! – a friendly bunch of people who cycle offroad and have extensive knowledge of the area and have agreed to provide input to the map.
4. The difficulties imposed by trying to traverse the M1 J24 junction which makes connection with neighboring Castle Donnington difficult

No more events are currently planned but we should look for further opportunities, but perhaps best now to wait for the spring and perhaps tie in with the led rides we plan to do in 2010.