North East Lincolnshire businesses urged to help staff cycle to work
It's part of the national 'Cycle September' scheme
Businesses in North East Lincolnshire are being urged to help their staff get cycling, to improve fitness and tackle climate change.
The call comes during the national Cycle September scheme, which sees a leader-board for companies across the UK, based on workforce pedal-powered miles.
Last year, 50,000 people took part in the scheme, including 6,000 new to cycling.
A company in Grimsby have been helping their staff to get cycling, and are now encouraging other firms to do the same.
As well as building a new bike shed, supported by North East Lincolnshire Council, Pattesons Glass is offering its workers interest-free loans to purchase new bikes.
Operations manager Mark Schofield told Greatest Hits Radio: "They are warehouse operatives, so salaries are not going to be vast, and for them to try and find £500 to £600 as a one-off payment to go and buy a cycle just to get to work, we just felt we needed to give them a little bit of a helping hand.
"Just from our business alone, there are three or four cars that are not having to queue up every day at peak times just to get here, and it also saves them having to rely on people getting up giving them a lift to work as well.
"Before the pandemic, there used to be a car-sharing group of employees in the warehouse that used to change positions and they'd go and pick each other up. During lockdown we had to put a stop to that, they had to rely on friends and family to give them a lift. We don't have a bus service onto the estate either."