Essex Pedal Power

Essex Pedal Power launched in Clacton and Jaywick in June 2021, and 1,000 bikes have already been distributed, out of a total of 1,300. Friendships have formed, communities have strengthened, and the project has become so much more than just a free bike scheme. Weight loss, increase in physical activity levels and improved mental health are just several additional benefits as stated by recipients.

In addition, there is a quality wrap around support for all residents who receive a bike, including free learn to ride sessions, bike maintenance and led bike rides. The programme is also significantly supporting Essex’s climate change agenda, with cyclists reporting that since receiving their bike, they use their car 3 times less a week on average.

Read the full Clacton and Jaywick Sands report here.

During 2023, the ‘Essex Pedal Power Re:Cycles’ project launched, where local residents donate either an old or unwanted bike, and mechanics upcycle and recondition the second-hand bikes, so that they can be redistributed to the community. Following funding from the Essex Cycle Grant and Tendring Community Fund, the Essex Pedal Power team were able to support and deliver this programme, helping not only more residents in the area, but also contribute to the reduction of unwanted bikes to refuse sites. Supporting the movement of ‘reuse and recycle’, has also been a key objective of the programme.

Two years of Essex Pedal Power in Clacton and Jaywick Sands was celebrated in the summer, linking up with the Clacton Carnival for a community procession. Residents, local organisations and bike recipients took to the streets in unison with some decorating their bikes to celebrate this community initiative.

The community cycling initiative in Clacton and Jaywick also had two special visits in 2023; the first being Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who visited Clacton in October to learn about the opportunities created by Levelling Up funding, and the second being Chris Boardman, Chair of Sport England. Chris was a guest of ECC’s Sustainable Transport team and was keen to learn more about Essex Pedal Power, how it’s benefitted local residents and also to cycle along the new cycle path between Jaywick and Clacton. High profile visits like this, have helped to put Essex Pedal Power on the national stage.

Essex Pedal Power has created links with schools and the healthcare system to further the offer of accessing a bike. 20 bikes have been gifted to schools to enable children in the most deprived communities the chance to learn to ride a bike with Bikeability instructors, equipping them with a lifelong skill. Bikes have also been allocated to social prescribers in the area, providing them with a method of transport whilst at work and to help improve physical activity levels and mental wellbeing.

All Essex Pedal Power projects are committed to using and developing the local cycling infrastructure, including dedicated cycle paths, cycle lanes on roads, and community bike parking. An injection of £1.7m in funding, has enabled improvements to be made to the Jaywick to Clacton cycle route, resulting in a new coastal path. It is the hope that this will improve connections between the two towns and encourage more people to get out on their bikes.

Due to the projects success, and through funding from the London Marathon Foundation (LMF) following Ford RideLondon coming to the county for the first time in 2022, Essex Pedal Power launched programmes in Basildon, Colchester and Harwich and Dovercourt in Summer 2023, and more recently on Canvey Island.

In Basildon, bikes are available to residents living in Felmores and Fryerns, as well as staff working at the Basildon University Hospital. In addition, the Essex Pedal Power Basildon team have been working closely with local organisations to support people experiencing significant barriers to cycling, by providing them with a bike and other services.

In Colchester, Essex Pedal Power focuses on the Greenstead Estate as a priority area for regeneration. In addition, further funding has been secured for adaptive bikes and children’s bikes, which will have a significant impact on the activity levels of local people, improving participants health and wellbeing.

In Harwich and Dovercourt, eligible residents in specific postcode areas, including Parkeston and Bathside Bay are able to apply for a free bike. Both adult and children’s bikes are available, and more recently child seats have become a new addition for bike recipients with young children, who would like to go out on bike rides together as a family.

In January 2024, Essex Pedal Power launched on Canvey Island allowing 200 new bikes to be given exclusively to eligible school children in years 6 and 7, to enable them to travel actively through their transition from Primary school to Secondary school. Led by the Castle Point and Rochford School Sports Partnership and The Deanes School, the £150,000 funding for this programme comes from a partnership with the London Marathon Foundation, following Ford RideLondon-Essex coming to the county for a second time last year.

Through the partnership with LMF, Active Essex have been able to fund two posts to support with cycling projects, including Essex Pedal Power. An Assistant Relationship Manager for Cycling and an Evaluation Researcher for EPP have been recruited, due to the cycling initiative scaling up and expanding across the county. These roles will help Active Essex understand the impact these types of projects have on local communities, especially in the county’s most deprived areas.

By continuing to work with a fantastic cohort of partners, Active Essex are excited to see the development of Essex Pedal Power over the next year, with the aspiration of rolling Essex Pedal Power out into additional areas across Essex in the future.