Students bring pedal power to local primary school

Our Automotive students have been putting their skills to good use, assembling 15 Frog and Tadpole bikes for local primary school, Brighton Avenue in Gateshead.

Thanks to funding provided by Gateshead Council’s Sustainable Transport Fund, the school was able to purchase the bikes, but needed support in assembling them, which is when our students stepped in.

Working with our active travel project The Bike Shed and bike expert, BikeDrDave, they collected the bikes from the school, assembled them and returned them the same day, ensuring that the primary school pupils could start pedalling straight away.

The scheme has already proved highly successful, with many children—some of whom didn’t previously have a bike—learning to ride for the first time.

Jacqui Kevan, Deputy Headteacher at Brighton Avenue Primary, shared her enthusiasm for the initiative, stating: “This project has been fantastic for our pupils. Many of them didn’t have access to a bike before, and now they’re developing the skills and confidence to ride on the bikes. We really want to teach our children how to ride bikes so that when they leave after Year 6, riding a bike to their new Year 7 secondary school is an option. We’re incredibly grateful to the Automotive students at Gateshead College for their support in assembling the bikes —it’s made a real difference to our school community.”

If you want to know more about our active travel project The Bike Shed or have a bike you would like to donate please email [email protected].