Essex town to provide eligible residents with free bikes through Pedal Power scheme
It's hoped the scheme will boost people's physical and mental wellbeing
A scheme enabling residents to borrow bikes for free will launch in Colchester later this year.
Essex Pedal Power, a community-based cycling project, will allow residents aged 16 and over to loan a new bike for an initial period of six months, which can be extended if an attached GPS tracker shows the bike's used regularly.
There are plans to distribute 800 bikes between 2022 and 2025 across the area, and it's hoped they'll have a positive impact on the activity levels of local people, as well as offering a boost to their physical and mental wellbeing.
Colchester Councillor Julie Young is Portfolio Holder for Housing and Communities: "Colchester has got high levels of suicide rates and mental health problems, so getting active and out in the fresh air is definitely going to help not only people's physical health, but their mental health as well."
She told us there were added benefits to the scheme: "It's predominantly a health and fitness project to get people more active, but with the cost of living crisis, anything we can do to cut our consumption of petrol and enable people to get around without cost is going to be really valuable."
The Pedal Power scheme received funding from Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board and the Active Essex Local Delivery Pilot, as well as Colchester City Council as part of the £18.2 million Town Deal Fund.
It launches in Colchester following a successful pilot in Clacton and Jaywick Sands.
Scheme participants will also be able to access free learn to ride training and basic bike maintenance sessions, an offering Julie thinks will prove useful: "Road safety is going to be paramount.
"We've already got the new scooters going around Colchester and we've some issues around public safety with those, so as we get more people on bikes, it does make you think about how safe they're actually going to be. Therefore the more people we can train to cycle properly and safely, the better."