Big News for Active Travel in North Yorkshire

Our Trust community is delighted to share that we’ve been awarded a significant grant of over £50,000 from the Mayor’s Active Travel Fund, confirmed this week.

This funding will enable us to launch CATCH – the Causeway Active Travel Community Hub – a new network spanning nine schools across North Yorkshire.

Through CATCH, we’ll be delivering a wide range of initiatives designed to make cycling and active travel more accessible for everyone in our communities, including:

• Bike Libraries
• Fully funded Dr Bike maintenance days
• Free community cycling lessons
• Balance bikes for schools
• Bike Bus marshal training
• Training Key Stage 2 pupils as bike mechanics

Our aim is simple but powerful: to break down barriers to physical activity and help foster lifelong, healthy habits. With the potential to reach thousands of people, this project represents an exciting step forward in promoting active travel across the region.

We’re building on strong foundations. Oatlands Infant School has already successfully piloted several of these initiatives in partnership with local schools and organisations, and we’re thrilled to expand this work across the Trust.

Christopher Harrison, Headteacher at Oatlands Infant School and CATCH Project Lead, said:

“We are delighted to have been awarded this grant, and we are so excited to step into this next phase of our active initiatives. We anticipate seeing hundreds of new cyclists across North Yorkshire over the coming years, and we can't wait to hear about families and the wider community engaging with our many exciting active opportunities.”

It’s also fantastic to see the wider impact of collaboration across the county. Earlier this year, the Active Travel Toolkit - developed by North Yorkshire Sport in partnership with Oatlands Infant School - was shared with every school in North Yorkshire, and most of the 25 schools awarded active travel grants made use of it.

We’re incredibly proud to be part of a growing movement that supports healthier, more active communities.