Have you seen a group of about 30-50 children, accompanied by some parents, cycling through Belsize Village on a Thursday morning at about 8am? This is a scheme organised by Charlotte Claydon to get children to school on bikes instead of being driven. The riders set off from Chalk Farm Bridge at 7.45am and finish at St Christophers, stopping off at six schools en route. Volunteers from Camden Cyclists and sometimes local police help to make the programme, which has been going on for the last three years, operate smoothly.
There are also two more similar Bike Bus routes in NW3 – one from Brent to Camden which passes through Wedderburn Road and another from Queens Park to Camden via Belsize Park.
The Bike Bus school runs are initiatives supported and encouraged by the Camden-based charity called Green School Runs which was set up eight years ago by a group of parents who want their children to be able to walk, scoot or cycle to school safely, confidently and joyfully.
Green School Runs core team, from left to right: Gabriella Sbordone, Francesca Agostini, Alessandra Giuliani.
There are 100 schools in Camden and 30 of them are in NW3. The majority are independent and attended by children from all over London. Parents who drive are usually subject to a stressful routine which might include the need to find parking. Their children get none of the benefits which come with them arriving to school by walking or cycling, and when they can, narrow roads congested with larger cars often make the options dangerous.
Green School Runs co-founder Francesca Agostini, who also happens to live in Belsize, speaks of the school run, which accounts for about 30% of London’s peak rush hour traffic, as “more than an anecdotal phenomenon.”
Volunteers from this charity talk to children in school assemblies about the Walk and Bike Bus options, knowing that informed children “communicate well with their parents.” They also work with schools to create point systems for pupils, thus “giving legitimacy and recognition” to their schemes.
“We’re not looking for perfect parents,” says Francesca. “Maybe only once a week their children walk or cycle to school, or they drive part of the journey.”
Green School Runs, which has organically grown to more than 80 members, will support any parent who wants to start a new Walk or Bike Bus or experience a taster session. They occasionally meet for a casual Happy Streets Social at the Freemason pub on Downshire Hill, mostly to chat about liveable neighbourhoods.
“Too often cars are the default option,” continues Francesca, “but is driving quicker? What about the gridlock on Fitzjohns Avenue or Frognal? And then there’s residents too – they have the right to have quieter roads.”
It’s proven that children, who once used to commonly get to school by climbing walls, jumping and running, are more ready to learn when their brains have been activated by physical exercise. If primary school children are not driven to school then by Year 6, they are more likely to be able to walk to and from school just with their friends.
It could be argued that driving is essential when you don’t trust your children or your environment, but Green School Runs believes that by giving youngsters, especially senior school students, the ‘protection’ of being driven “increases distrust and perceived danger, and doesn’t help to foster interest and care for the streets where we live.”
Public transport also helps to encourage independent mobility and to this end Green School Runs spent years campaigning for the 603 bus which runs from Swiss Cottage and passes through Belsize to be more frequent and in line with school run hours. They managed to change the time of one bus and prevent pupils from having to make three changes on their way to Muswell Hill!
Currently, Green School Runs is running a campaign with the Lambeth-based charity Solve The School Run to promote the use of cargo bikes, which work well for short journeys of between one to three miles.
With funding from the London Cycling Campaign, and Camden Council which supports Healthy School Streets and Healthy Travel Choices for residents, the Cargo Collective campaign aims to share advice, tips and real experiences of how modern electric cargo bikes can make it easy to carry children, school bags and even household shopping, whatever the weather.
“There are still barriers, like where to keep cargo bikes because they are too heavy to take indoors and not easily locked up on the street,” says Gabriella Sbordone the Cargo Collective programme leader (who coincidentally like Francesca is originally from Italy.)
However, the reality is that a hangar for two or three cargo bikes equals the parking space for just one car, and says Gabriella, “essentially it’s about prioritising sustainable and eco-friendly choices in our neighbourhoods.”
Over the next few months the Cargo Collective will be hosting five events across NW3 so that interested people can meet parents who’ve made the switch and try one too. The next event is on Friday 26 June in Eton Avenue Square (by Hampstead Theatre) from 3.30pm-5.30pm. It’s going to be a fun and informal event, with cakes to share, and activities for children.
www.greenschoolruns.org
Instagram: joinOurCargoCollective
Cover Photo: The Bike Bus School Run which starts at Chalk Farm Bridge at 7.45am.
