The initiative is proposed on the 100th anniversary of the first British Olympic gold medal won for cycling in 1908 and renewed national enthusiasm following Britain’s first gold medal in this year’s Beijing Olympic Games for cycling. The Get Biking scheme is one of a series of radical measured proposed by the charity to build socially excluded young people back into their local communities by providing more and better things for them to do, improving outdoor play spaces and creating a step change in support from inspirational adults.

Cycling Facts

• Children from disadvantaged backgrounds show lower levels of cycling;
• research shows that bike ownership is strongly linked to household income with around a quarter of households in the lowest 40 per cent incomes owning a bike compared to nearly half in the remaining 60 per cent;
• approximately 1% of primary school and 2% of secondary school children cycle to school;
• in London, children in households without cars cycled less than those who own cars;
• over the last 2-3 decades a dramatic fall has taken place in the distance cycled by children and young people under the age of 16;
• studies have shown that cycling for at least 30 minutes a day gives people a level of fitness equivalent to being 10 years younger.

New research carried this month also reveals that as children, 70% of adults enjoyed most of their adventures in natural outdoor environments. This compares with only 29% of children today as both the space and the freedom to roam has dramatically declined in recent years.

Further revelations include:

• Half of children (51%) aged 7-12 are not allowed to climb a tree without an adult present;
• 42% of children aged 7-12 are not allowed to play in their local park without an adult present;
• a third of children (34%) aged 7-12 are not allowed to ride a bike to a friend’s house without an adult present;
• a third of children (34%) are not allowed to play in their local streets without an adult present.

4Children’s recommendations have been developed to involve and inspire children and increase opportunities for play and positive contact with other adults in local public areas.

Key Recommendations include:

• New ’Children’s Zones’ as a base for sports, music, activities, childcare and leisure

• A national service of Play Rangers – recruited to lead and organise fun activities and games in parks and public spaces throughout the summer

• A bike for every child scheme - a free bike for all children when they pass proficiency training

• Build a bike workshops for older children to learn bike maintenance and create their own bike

• A national fund for Family Days and ‘our place’ street parties to bring communities together across the generations

Anne Longfield OBE, Chief Executive of 4Children said:
“School holidays should be a period of fun and enjoyment for young people but for too many they have come to mean boredom with only the TV and the computer for entertainment. We want to get children and young people back outside and active. Cycling is a fun and social pastime that young people can enjoy with friends and family. It can also help to enhance young people’s awareness of the world around them, increase feelings of independence whilst strengthening community ties and getting fitter too.”

Editor’s Notes

For further information contact Julie Watkins on 020 7522 6928 / julie.watkins@4Children.org.uk

During 2007 4Children found through consultations of children and parents that:

• Less than a quarter of children and young people feel that they are equal members of their local community to adults;

• over 7 out of 10 young people feel that communities are not designed with their interests in mind;

• 92% of young people felt that it was important that their local area offered more places that they could call their own;

• over 9 out of 10 parents consulted felt that their local area did not offer enough by way of services and activities for their children;

• 71% of parents say that they do not know where to go to get support or information on parenting if they needed it;

A 1998 study of juvenile curfews in California, which compared the rate of juvenile crime in jurisdictions with curfews against the rate of crime elsewhere, concluded that "curfew enforcement generally had no discernible effect on youth crime.

British children have high rates of obesity – by 2020 20% of boys and 33% of girls will be obese – and lead increasingly sedentary lifestyles. The use of curfews merely serves to compound these health problems, whereby children are now discouraged to be outside and active in the public realm.

In the UK only one in five children play outside each day, 3.9m live in poverty and they watch television or use a computer for an average of five hours 20 minutes every day.


4Children is the national charity dedicated to creating opportunities and building futures for all children. It aspires to ensure that all children, young people and families have access to a creative, safe and child focused environment, and activities. 4Children provides an information line for parents and childcare professionals with advice and support on all aspects of childcare, including details of out of school clubs in your area.

4Children Information Helpline: 020 7512 2100

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