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News Headlines:
Bike Week employer events held June 2010
This year TfW teamed up with Cycle Cambridge to help employers run an even
better Bike Week. Many TfW employers were helped by Cycle Cambridge cash to
fund a variety of events and were given lots of cycling freebies. Dawn Wise of Wellcome Genome Campus said "The reflective slap wraps were well received and didn't take long to be snapped up by Campus cyclists - some then wore them on the five mile organised lunchtime ride."
Lesley Scobell of Cambourne Business Park ran a successful Bike2Work breakfast (picture above) with Dr Bike service to all who cycled in which was gratefully received by 21 staff. Lesley also ran a lunchtime cycle ride to a local pub accompanied by 'Bikeability' cycle trainers provided by Cycle Cambridge Bikeability Team (www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/bikeability) to advise cyclists about the training they give. Mike Richmond from Global Graphics who came on the Lunchtime Cycle ride said "bike to the pub was a great way to meet with people from neighbouring companies and of getting some exercise in the middle of the working day."
Lesley said "The money received from Cycle Cambridge enabled us to try out lunchtime cycle rides and we now plan to do more of these events. We would like the Bikeability Cycle Trainer to come to a lunchtime session at the Business Park to help with confidence building when we launch our pool bikes trial."
Dawn Wise set up a 'Bikeability' Cycle Training beginners class at the Wellcome Genome Campus and benefitted from the lesson herself. Dawn said "The money from Cycle Cambridge ensured that we could run more events this year with 90+ participants, they funded both child (on-site nursery) and adult cycle training."
Bikeability Trainers Simon Haydn & John Stanley flank trainees including Dawn Wise 4th from left.
Yasmin, who received training said "It was a most fantastic opportunity to be able to actually get on a bike and learn skills that help build up your confidence to ride. This Beginners Training class has given me the confidence to get on a bike and pursue riding whenever I can. The trainers were brilliant to have been able to teach so many skills in 1 hour."
Dawn commented "The Adult Cycle Training was excellent and something we will run again soon - encouraging new cyclists and building confidence of those who hadn't cycled for years, including myself."
Linda Cox, Environment Manager at Hinchingbrooke Health Care NHS Trust, commenced a Bicycle User Group (BUG) which is popular with staff interested in cycle training,
bike maintenance and social events. Around 60
staff took time
to visit the cycling information table in the
Garden Restaurant on the 23rd.
Local PCSO’s Gareth Price & Shiralee
Freeman were on hand with a range of
helmets, cycle locks and general safety
advice and gave away free UV security
marker pens.
As well as picking up some freebies and
information on cycle discounts, staff
completing a brief questionnaire were
entered into a free prize draw to win a £30 Halfords
voucher.
From left to right: Shiralee Freeman Linda Cox and Gareth Price gave cycling information at their stand
MRC staff, based at Peterhouse Business Park, cycled their way to a smoothie at an event organised by their Green Team in collaboration with Team Green Britain Bike Week. A smoothie making bike was an ideal way to promote both environmentally friendly transport and healthy eating and exercise messages for the summer.
The state of the art bike rented from Huntingdon District Council's Environmental Health Dept, uses kinetic energy from pedalling which powers the blender. Just a few minutes of pedalling, combined with a selection of favourite fruits and fruit juice, created a delicious and nutritious smoothie.
The smoothie bike event was very popular with staff at MRC HNR, The Wellcome Genome Campus and Cambridgeshire County Council. The County hired another cycling smoothie maker at a number of its employer sites throughout bike week supplied by Tom at www.blendavenda.com and event organiser Sarah Bedford was pleased to see the "Smoothie maker appealed to even more staff than the free breakfasts."
If your employer has run events for Bike Week that you'd like to tell TfW about and provide us pictures please contact info@tfw.org.uk or telephone 01223 715550.
Ely Station joins Cambridge and Huntingdon in train discounts
Ely Station is the latest commuter destination to join Cambridge and Huntingdon in offering discounted rail travel. Both National Express and First Capital Connect are so pleased with the take-up of their discounts at Cambridge and Huntingdon by staff of full TfW member employers that they chose to extend the 'Cambridgeshire Green Travel Discount Scheme' to Ely Station.
Also PLUSBUS is available at the time you buy your discounted train season ticket and provides unlimited bus travel around Cambridge or Huntingdon (excluding Ely), including to and from the train station.
Further details are available within the latest 'Staff Brief' see www.tfw.org.uk/services.php#Traindiscounts
20July2010
Travel Planning Essentials Workshops 1 & 2
FREE Workshop 2 is entitled "What to do with data and marketing events & Campaigns" and is being held on Monday 20th September 2010 at 8.30am - 1.00pm at the SmartLIFE Centre, Cambridge Regional College Cambridge.
All TfW employers are welcome, especially those new to TfW, participating in the annual survey for the first time, developing a travel plan or planning to run an event.
See more information about this workshop by clicking on Invitation
For information about getting to the venue see 'Travelling to the SmartLIFE Centre'.
Please e-mail info@tfw.org.uk or call 01223 715550 for more information and to reserve your place by Friday 3 September.
*******************************************
Workshop 1 was titled "What makes a good Travel Plan and how to gain support", the first Travel Planning Essentials workshop was held on Monday 14th June 2010.
Held at The University Centre, Granta Place and attended by 14 delegates, the workshop combined group exercises with presentation materials designed to help new TfW employers and those at the Certificate of Commitment stage with travel planning.
Course materials, including photographs from the event are given below:
Programme
Delegate List
Presentation Slides
Example Travel Plan
Exercise 1 Notes
Event Photo 1
Event Photo 2
Event Photo 3
CamShare - Congratulations to Winners of April's prize draw
Cambridgeshire County Council and the Travel for Work Partnership held a prize draw for those who log-on to www.camshare.co.uk, search and contact their match during the whole month of March 2010. Prize winners were drawn early April.
- First prize – free car valet service at your workplace by Reeves Valeting went to daily car sharers Nicola Oldhams and Steven Godfrey
- £30 John Lewis voucher won by Catherine Hutt;
- £10 Halfords voucher to car share buddies Nicola and Steven
At the same time there was a prize draw for those sharing their journeys with others. To qualify car sharers and cyclists needed to register their bike BUDi journey or car BUDi journey. A cycle BUDi and each BUDi member within the car share team (drawn randomly) received £10 Halfords gift voucher. See how to become a BUDi below.
With over 2,000 members it’s even more likely your staff will find a good car share match. So if you are a car share promoter at your workplace do promote to your staff using our editable posters, and ask to borrow our free standing CamShare banner.
You may already be someone's buddy (BUDi). To become either a cycle or car share BUDi register yourself and your journey at www.camshare.co.uk and follow the instructions below. Your car sharer will also need to register.
- Search for someone to share with by clicking on the search button next to your journey on the home page
- Send a request to share to a member that you would like to share with by clicking on the 'more details' button then send a request to share message
- Already sharing and just need to set up the BUDi team? Follow the same process and find the person you are sharing with from the list of matches. If you can't find the person you are sharing with do an advanced search and widen the search radius, also check that they are registered with CamShare
- The person you are sharing with will need to reply to your message
- You both need to go to ‘My contacts’ and confirm that you are sharing, one of you will be asked if you want to create a BUDi team. You will be asked to create a name, select how many days you're sharing, and if you want to mark the team as full – although remember the more people you share with the more you can save.
CamShare Easter Campaign
As well as using the Easter/March Prize Draw poster also give leaflets to anyone who arrives in single-occupancy vehicles.
The leaflets also include a registration form, so you can ask staff to fill them in on the spot.
Hinxton Hall did something similar last Easter - and got 25 new members in one day. They held a sustainable event, which included a car-share stand, and offered free Creme Eggs to everyone who joined their liftshare scheme, as well as freebies such as air fresheners, leaflets and pens.
Give it a go. It’s amazing how a bit of chocolate can raise people’s interest!
For raising awareness of CamShare outside of the prize draw here are editable posters for you to up-date (using Adobe writer) with your contact details and distribute:
If you have car sharing anecdotes, helpful hints or beneficial outcomes + photos to share with us we'd like to hear from you, please call 01223 715550.
www.camshare.co.uk
(posted 4 May 2010)
Your Letters - Gritting Cycleways
S Hinton, Sagentia's TP Co-ordinator
Following Mark Webb's piece about cycling to work in the winter month's in February's (2010) TfW newsletter we heard from Sarah Hinton, who had unfortunately fallen off her bike in the icy conditions. Here is the full exchange with Richard Preston of Cambridgeshire County Council regarding possible gritting improvements.
Richard Preston’s response
Dear Sarah,
sorry to hear of your problems when cycling to work. Unfortunately, the severe shortage of salt has meant that we have had to significantly curtail our gritting operations as salt supplies are being rationed on a national basis.
With regard to your comment about the need for cycleways to be gritted, we are in the process of reviewing our winter gritting policy and one of the issues that is on the agenda for councillors is the desire to see more attention given to cycleways as part of our gritting operations.
However, the calls for more and more gritting to be provided grow each day and budget pressures on the County Council mean that if more resource is put into our winter operations then it may have to be at the expense of other services. Councillors will be considering these matters over the coming weeks but it is unlikely that any changes will be made in time for this winter season.
Mark Webb’s response
I am so sorry you had a tumble - it is such a horrible thing to happen.
I shall pass on your mail to Richard Preston the County Council Manager responsible for this area of work.
Sarah Hinton (Sagentia) response
"Right clothing, right lights and it is still possible to cycle in the winter" - oh, really?
Interesting to read of Mark's pride in cycling to work in the snow and enjoying it. I agree, cycling in the fresh snow was great fun –
It's all very well having the right clothing and good lights, but this is the first winter in 15 years that I've hardly cycled to work at all. I've been reluctantly car-bound.
The reason? .. the council ran out of grit and the roads haven't been safe.
I love my rides to work and I was getting so frustrated that I decided to give it a go in case it wasn't as bad as it looked. Less than a mile down the road I didn't feel safe and turned back. Twenty yards later I hit a patch of ice and went splat! Result: cuts and bruises to my right leg and arm. Many cyclists have experienced the same thing, I'm just grateful that I didn't end up in the accident service.
Last year cycle campaigners were calling for cycle-paths to be gritted, I'm afraid that achieving this is no more than a pipe-dream while not even the roads are being gritted.
Yours,
Sarah Hinton Travel for Work Co-ordinator Sagentia Ltd
Mark Webb’s piece in February Newsletter
I'm feeling pretty proud of myself! One day this week I overcame the lure of the leather seated guided bus that is currently serving my village onto the bike for the first time in 2010 - and it snowed on me! And I am pleased to say I loved it! Right clothing, right lights and it is still possible to cycle in the winter. Do you have any intrepid cyclists who have cycled this winter?
Pioneering Employers are just the Business in cutting car travel Travel Plan AWARDS 2010!
Travel for Work was delighted to present the fifth annual Travel Plan Awards which we make jointly with our colleagues at Peterborough City Council's Travelchoice Team. Read our Special Newsletter to see who received awards on 19 January 2010.
Get your AWARD 2010!
The 2010 Travel for Work Annual Travel Plan Awards are launched today (9th Nov 09). The award ceremony will take place at the SmartLIFE centre in Cambridge in week commencing 18th January 2010 (date finalised soon).
To get your reward for your hard work on your Travel Plan initiatives or (for new TfW employers) for committing to develop initiatives click here to see the Special Newsletter with details.
(9 Nov 09)
TfW Annual Report 2008-09
Click here for an electronic version of the 2008-09 annual report which is now published. This contains a review of the last financial year and lists the TfW achievements. We are happy to receive comments on the annual report and any suggestions for what to include in future years.
(30 Sept 09)
CamShare Winners of Free Prize Draw During September 09
Cambridgeshire County Council and the Travel for Work Partnership have drawn prize winners from new and existing members of CamShare who registered in September on www.camshare.co.uk
In addition prize draw entrants registered at least one journey, searched for a match and made contact with another member. Existing members needed to simply log-on their CamShare account, ensure a journey is registered, search for matches and make contact to share.
Congratulations to Kelsey Tobolik of Cambridgeshire Constabulary, Renan Salviato a commuter from Addenbrooke's Hospital and Graham Fearn of Lightstone Interactive Ltd who contacted their car share matches and have respectively won the following prizes:
- 3 x Regular Organic Vegetable Box from Cambridge Organic Food Company
- £36 Essential Car Safety Pack - everything you need for journeys at home or abroad - fire extinguisher, warning triangle, jump leads, high-viz jacket, first-aid kit, torch, gloves and GB sticker, all presented in a CamShare branded carry bag
- £30 Marks & Spencer Gift Card
Info on Cambridge Organic Food Company can be seen at www.cofco.co.uk/site/
Click to view Terms & Conditions of the Sept Prize draw.
Congratulations to our June prize draw winners Kevin Rolph commuting to Cambourne Business Park and Simon Day of NHS East of England based in Fulbourn. Kevin won a Marks & Spencer Gift Card worth £30 and Simon won an organic vegetable box with 3 deliveries to his home address by Cambridge Organic Food Company. Simon and Kevin registered and searched on www.camshare.co.uk and found matches with whom they made contact to car share. Kevin is a member of the Cambridge group of the Institute of Advanced Motorists, a volunteer organisation for improving your day-to-day driving skills see www.camiam.org.uk
(20 July 2009).
TRAVEL PLAN PLUS (TP+) Project
TRAVEL PLAN PLUS (TP+) is an exciting European funded project that will set up a travel plan network with employment sites across the area covering: Cambridge Business Park, Cambridge Regional College, Cambridge Science Park, St John’s Innovation Park, Taylor Vinters and Vitrum Building.
Gary Armstrong (Tel: 01223 715695, email: gary.armstrong@cambridgeshire.gov.uk) is the newly appointed Travel Plan Coordinator for the TP+ project and will be based in a newly established Commuter Centre office at the Innovation Centre from late September 2009.
Gary said “I am really looking forward to working with employers on this exiting project and in facilitating new and innovate initiatives which help all your commuting staff travel more healthily, cheaply and sustainably. If you have any questions or queries on any of the above or the briefing note please do not hesitate to contact me.”
An inaugural meeting to launch the project on site is being organised for Wednesday 23rd September 2009 (8.30am to 10am) and is being hosted by Genzyme Ltd (310 Cambridge Science Park). At this meeting you will be able to find out more about the project, planned future events and how to get involved by becoming a member of the project steering group. If you would like to be invited to this meeting to find out more and/or would like to participate in the steering group please let Gary Armstrong know.
The following briefing documents provide further information on the project:
Briefing Document 2 (July 2009)
Briefing Document 1 (March 2009)
(August 09)
CamShare Prize Draw!
during September 2009
CamShare, TfW's on-line car sharing data base www.camshare.info is holding a prize draw for all those who register and search for a match and existing members who log-on and search for a match any time during September 2009.
Cycle Cambridge are giving ££££s for cycle parking
Your employer could benefit from a share of the pot of money to provide or improve cycle parking if based within Cambridge or its necklace villages. To apply for cash towards cycle stands/covers/ security see the application form and scheme guidelines for the "Take A Stand" scheme and phone 01223 715694/715550. The bidding window is open to spend £15,000 whilst funds remain or until 7th January 2011.
For further guidance please view a flow diagram of the application process.
Green Travel Employers Go On Safari
Going on safari would not usually be top of the list as a way to beat the recession! But a special breakfast safari has helped employers and their staff save money. The free breakfast event was run by the Cambridgeshire Travel for Work Partnership (TfW) on 10th June at the offices of the East of England Development Agency (EEDA), who were sponsoring the event.
“We had 27 attendees from 21 employers at this very successful event,” said Gary Armstrong, Travel Plan Adviser at TfW. “The travel plan 'safari' saw participants visit various 'stations' to hear about how to link commuting and business travel initiatives to recession-busting messages; for example promoting and facilitating car sharing, car clubs, bus and train transport, cycling and flexible working can all save commuters money as well as reducing CO2 emissions.”
Delia Murren from the Environment Agency, said; “This was an excellent session. I was really impressed by how much good work is going on in so many organizations to promote green travel.”
Other delegates reported how they were going to return to their workplaces to discuss if they could use car club cars instead of pool cars, or if more flexible working, such as 9 day fortnights and working from home, could be both good for the company and their staff.
Cycling was one of the most animated safari stations – with much discussion surrounding the future cycleway alongside the guided bus track. One delegate was heard to say “I had not realised that being a member of Travel for Work gave our staff so many good discounts at local cycle shops. I shall certainly be telling our employees about this.”
Gary added, “This event showed that there are a surprising number of very low-cost ways an employer can encourage and implement sustainable transport options. And this meeting was all about giving employers practical solutions and raising awareness of the opportunities.”
The meeting had earlier heard from Mike Salter, Transport Planning Manager at EEDA. He informed the meeting that EEDA’s research had shown that congestion alone would cost the region £2bn per year by 2021 – added to this are the large carbon emissions from transport. “Although we need further investment in the region’s transport system, we also know that we need to be much smarter about our travel choices if we are to meet our regional transport objectives” said Mike. “There is significant interest from the business community in workplace travel planning and we are keen to see more of this so we are pleased to support Travel for Work and events such as this.”
The various presentations used during the meeting are available for download from here:
- EEDA presentation
- Flexible Working presentation
- Cycling presentation
- CamShare (Liftshare) presentation
- Car Clubs (Streetcar) presentation
Anyone wishing to find out more about workplace travel initiatives or joining Travel for Work (for FREE!) should contact Gary Armstrong at Travel for Work on 01223 715550 or e-mail info@tfw.org.uk.
TfW Train Season Ticket Discounts
The Cambridgeshire Travel for Work Partnership is pleased to offer the employees of all full members of TfW a special discount rate on season tickets and bulk buy tickets purchased for travel to work by train. The season ticket discount is being made available on tickets purchased from National Express East Anglia and First Capital Connect. The bulk buy ticket option is only available from National Express East Anglia.
Season tickets may be purchased for valid travel from any National Express East Anglia or selected First Capital Connect Stations (North of Potters Bars) to either Cambridge or Huntingdon stations only.
National Express season tickets will be available from either the National Express call centre or Cambridge station ticket office.
First Capital Connect issued season tickets will be available from the call centre or Cambridge and Huntingdon stations.
Full details including instructions on how to purchase a season ticket, sample fares and route maps can be found at http://www.tfw.org.uk/services.php#Traindiscounts
Employer Events held during Bike week 13 - 21 June 09
The weather was ideal for employers who held some fun events, rewarding their cycling commuters and encouraging others to cycle more often.
UNIQUE EVENTS
Rod Downey of British Antarctic Survey, used their successful Bicycle User Group (BUG) to organise a series of unusual, if not unique, events for each day of Bike Week which were well attended by staff such as:
'A Bicycle Built for Two' - staff had a go at riding tandem bikes.
'Upright On One Wheel' - UK national unicycle champion instructed staff on how to balance on a Unicycle.
MAINTENANCE DEMO
Employers MRC, Mills & Reeve, GO East, Sepura and Thermo Fisher all gratefully received a free visit by 'Outspoken' to present a lunchtime bicycle maintenance demonstration at their workplace during Bike Week.
Natalie Barford of Mills & Reeve said
"We had a great training session, outside in the sunshine. All have commented that it was fun and informative.
I've been asked to invite Rob back for others who couldn't make the training today...
As we are next to BBC Radio Cambs, they came out with their microphones and held an impromtu interview with Rob (Outspoken), Nick, Gemma and Danielle, about the training and why we were doing it. This was broadcast on Tuesday's drive time show."
See 'Outspoken Demonstrations' for detailed information about employee cycle maintenance training and why it's worth doing.
Cycling breakfasts, bike buddies, 'Dr Bike' repair service, lunchtime/evening cycle rides and cycle security 'Immobilise', were just some of the other most popular events organised by employers - Cambourne Business Park and Cambridgeshire County Council, Huntingdonshire District Council.
Picture Caption: Rob of 'Outspoken' advise Mills & Reeve's attentive commuters on simple bike repairs.
Travel Planning in a Recession - Breakfast Meeting 10 June 2009
Our next FREE breakfast meeting will be on Wednesday 10th June 2009 at the East of England Development Agency's (EEDA) offices in Histon, Cambridgeshire and is entitled "Travel Planning in a Recession".
This will be a useful and practical event. We will begin with a couple of introductory presentations. Then we'll set off on a travel plan 'safari'. You will visit various 'stations' to hear about and ask questions on approaches to linking travel plan measures to recession-busting messages. For example we will have stations discussing car sharing, car clubs, bus & train transport, cycling and flexible working.
At each station will be an expert who will lead the 15 minute sessions. Finally we will end with a 'mop up' session where delegates can share what they have learnt and what they will take away from the event.
The agenda is available to download here.
If you would like to attend please contact Gary Armstrong on 01223 715695 or email ga@tfw.org.uk – places are limited so please respond soon to reserve your place.
Cyclist's Get More out of Life - Competition results for your stories
And so you told us that cycling is an exciting, healthy and safe way to discover the environment. We share with you great submissions, by Cambridgeshire commuting cyclists below to inspire others to cycle.
Winning stories of three commuter categories - novice; experienced and furthest distance round trip are as follows:
Helen Tiddy 'A Wide Birth' - first - Novice Cyclist;
Regular cyclist 'More Holes Please' - first - Longest Round Trip;
Neil Younger 'Ride of the Unicorn' - first - experienced cyclist;
Sarah Bedford 'The Joys of Slower Cycling' - runners up - experienced cyclist.
The winner of each category is being rewarded one day cycle ride at Thetford Forest Park including mountain bike hire for use on four cycle trails for beginners to very difficult. See www.bike-art.com for details of Forest trails and opening hours. The runners-up prize is a bicycle ‘D’ lock. To see competition terms and conditions click here.
Cambridgeshire Transport Commission
TfW has made its own submission to the Commission; click here to view what we said.
Car Park Management - Breakfast Meeting (11 November 2008)
TfW's Breakfast meeting held at the GO East Offices on Tuesday 11th November was a huge sucess with over 30 people attending.
The meeting heard from TfW employers, Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) and Mott MacDonald, who have successfully managed their car parks. Both organisations are based within Cambridge where land is valuable and therefore car parking space is limited. Copies of their respective presentations can be downloaded:
The meeting then heard from Mills & Reeve and English Heritage, both at early stages of developing solutions to their own car park problems. The meeting then split into working groups to come up with suggestions on how to resolve the issues facing these two companies. The outcomes from the workshop activities are summarised in the following document.
Please click here for a link to:
Cambridge Bike BUDi Prize Draw Winners
Congratulations to eight Cambridgeshire residents who won the fabulous
prizes in the CamShare BikeBUDi draw in October 2008. A full list of
winners is available from the Travel for Work Partnership: email
info@tfw.org.uk or telephone 01223 715550
AROUND THE WORLD CYCLIST SPOKE UP AT GREEN TRAVEL AWARDS
Around the world cyclist Alastair Humphreys helped celebrate the achievements of environmentally friendly Cambridgeshire employers pioneering greener forms of travel.
He was the guest speaker at the fourth annual Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Workplace Travel Plan Awards and inspired listeners with his four and half year adventure, cycling 46,000 miles around the globe,
Fifteen Cambridgeshire employers, all members of the Travel for Work Partnership, and fourteen employers from the Travelchoice network in Peterborough, were given a well-deserved reward for introducing environmentally friendly and healthy ways to get their staff to work.
All the organisations are at various stages towards completing effective workplace travel plans. These plans include measures such as setting up flexible working arrangements, which can reduce the need to travel, and promoting car sharing and cycle journey sharing using the website, CamShare (www.camshare.co.uk).
Councillor Pat Nash, the Mayor of Peterborough, presented the awards at a special ceremony in the Town Hall, Peterborough.
The awards ranged from the 'Certificate of Commitment', where a company's senior management have decided to develop a travel plan, to the 'Travel Plan Excellence Award', which rewards companies with successful travel plans embedded into the culture of the organisation. A full list of award recipients is below.
The awards are made jointly by the Cambridgeshire Travel for Work Partnership, based at the County Council, and Peterborough City Council’s Travelchoice team.
“Travel plans can have dramatic effect on promoting sustainable and healthy commuting. On average they can reduce the number of cars arriving at a workplace by 18%, for very modest input,” said Travel for Work Development Manager, Mark Webb. “The Awards event is always inspiring and motivating. We hope that even more Cambridgeshire employers will be inspired to apply for the 2009 Awards, which will take place in Cambridge next autumn.”
To find out more about Alastair Humphreys extraordinary epic journey and the beneficial effects of banana and jam sandwiches, take a look at his website www.roundtheworldbybike.com
Cambridgeshire Employers receiving awards in 2008 are:
Step 1: CERTIFICATE OF COMMITMENT
- Cambridgeshire County Council - Huntingdon Library & Lawrence Court, Huntingdon
- IQ Cambridge
- Office of the Official Receiver (Cambridge)
- MRC Human Nutrition Research (Cambridge)
- Royal Society of Chemistry (Cambridge)
- Mills & Reeve LLP (Cambridge)
Step 2: CERTIFICATE OF DEVELOPMENT
- Babraham Research Campus (Cambridge)
- Cambridgeshire Constabulary
- Cambridgeshire County Council - Hereward Hall & March
- Cambridge Business Park
Step 3: CERTIFICATE OF IMPLEMENTATION
- Cambridge City Council
- Cambridgeshire County Council - Scott House, Huntingdon
- Cambridgeshire County Council - Speke House & Amundsen House, St Ives
Step 4: CAMBRIDGESHIRE & PETERBOROUGH TRAVEL PLAN AWARD
- British Antarctic Survey (Cambridge)
Step 5: CAMBRIDGESHIRE & PETERBOROUGH TRAVEL PLAN EXCELLENCE AWARD
- 2 Peterborough employers received this award
Step 6: CONTINUING EXCELLENCE AWARD
- Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Cambourne Business Park (Cambridge)
- The Government Office for the East of England (Cambridge)
- Wellcome Trust Genome Campus (Cambridge)
CamShare is after your expert knowledge! - Bike BUDi
Many employers have both experienced cyclists, as well as potential cyclists wanting to know more about routes to work. CamShare needs to recruit this pool of people, willing to share a cycle journey with another person, giving them the confidence to try cycling and find a route with someone who knows the way.
To promote Cycle BUDi to your staff you may download and use the editable posters below:
Bike Buddy - clear way ahead
Wheely Wheely good
and text below in an e-mail ...
If you are willing to help new cyclists to find their way, then register now as a Bike BUDi on www.camshare.co.uk Register too if you are new to cycling and you may find your perfect journey match.
Search is on for Green Travel Champions - and those that want to start!
(Travel Plan Awards 2008)
IIs your company doing its bit to encourage more cycling to work? Do your people share car journeys? Does your company subsidise bus travel? Is the company developing or does it already have an active travel plan?
The Travel for Work Partnership (TfW), wants to find and reward Cambridgeshire employers who are pioneering healthy and environmentally friendly commuting initiatives.
“At TfW we already work with over 60 employers on green travel initiatives, but we know there are others out there doing really good things - or thinking of starting,” said TfW development manager, Mark Webb. “We want to find them and give them a well deserved pat on the back!”
(Alistair Humphreys - to speak at awards event)
he fourth annual Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Workplace Travel Plan Awards will take place on Monday 6th October at Peterborough Town Hall 3.00pm - 6.00pm. Special guest speaker at this year’s event will be round-the-world cyclist, Alastair Humphreys - see Alistair's website by clicking here.
Organisations have been invited to attend 2008 awards and a free bus for attendees will be leaving Shire Hall site at 2.00pm and returning for 7.00pm. For directions to the Peterborough Town Hall please download location map. Anyone interested in finding out more about how to apply for the 2009 Awards should contact Lindsey Rushmore on (01223) 712455 or email info@tfw.org.uk
(Sept 08)
Petrol price busting Car Sharing website goes live!
Cambridgeshire citizens can now beat rising fuel costs by sharing car journeys. A new car sharing website, CamShare.co.uk, is launched on National Liftshare day - Monday 9th June.
Travel for Work and Cambridgeshire County Council have commissioned the country’s leading car share company, Liftshare, to run the online scheme for members of the public and employers. The website is designed to reduce travel costs as well as cut congestion and pollution.
“I am delighted that CamShare is offering Cambridgeshire residents more choice about how they travel around the County,” said Mark Lloyd, Chief Executive of Cambridgeshire County Council (above right). “Tackling climate change is a top priority for the Council and it is important to encourage travel by more sustainable means including car sharing, thus reducing the amount of CO2 emitted. I am very enthusiastic about car sharing, and the travel and environmental benefits that it offers – that our citizens will save considerable amounts of money by joining CamShare is the icing on the cake!”
Members of the public can sign up for free on www.camshare.co.uk. The process is simple and residents will search for others who are travelling the same route.
“We recognise that it is usually impossible for every journey to be shared. But even if journeys were shared just one day in five we’d see a huge 20% reduction in car traffic,” said Hannah Fox, Environment Manager at the County Council (above centre).
Mark Webb, Development Manager at the Travel for Work Partnership (above left) said:
“Employers across the County can also set up their own mini sites within the system so that their employees can car share with each other or employees from neighbouring companies.”
The launch of the scheme comes after Rosie Winterton, Minister of State for Transport said earlier this year: “I encourage employers to consider whether introducing a car sharing scheme for their organisation could help them reduce their carbon footprint and provide quicker, more convenient journeys for staff."
Nigel Brown, Chair of the Greater Cambridge Partnership, said: “At the GCP we often hear from employers about the nightmare of commuters or goods stuck in traffic. Whilst we are all keen to see improvements to public transport and the A14 improvements come on stream, simple solutions such as car sharing using the CamShare website are a no-brainer! I’d encourage all the county’s employers to sign up today!”
County residents and employers wanting more information on should log on to on to www.camshare.co.uk. Employers can also contact Travel for Work on 01223 712429.
(9 June 2008)
Travelling in a new direction - with less petrol!
Have you noticed increasing moans at work about the cost of petrol and journey times (average 45 mins – the longest in Europe!)? If so you will probably be worried that these valuable staff will be looking for employment that is easier to get to.
But your workplace IS easier to get to? For many of your employees car sharing, taking the bus, cycling or walking will get them to work more quickly and more reliably than driving alone.
And in many changing how they get work will mean inches off waistlines, but a bulging wallet! Basically a happier, healthier wealthier workforce = a more productive workforce.
The great news is that with very little resource you can make your site much more attractive to get to.
Save £s; Save CO2
A workplace travel plan is a package of measures that reduces the number of people travelling to a worksite alone by car. It does so by encouraging walking, cycling, car sharing and the use of public transport. Travel plans are attractive to businesses because they can result in substantial cost savings and other benefits including;
- a very economical way to tackling car park congestion, reducing the number of vehicles arriving on site
- Travel plans reduce business travel costs by encouraging use of less oil intensive forms of transport and a switch to 'smarter working'; eg. the use of video-conferencing equipment for meetings instead of writing off four hours by driving to a meeting. Or why not take the train and work on the way?
- Road traffic and consequently congestion are forecast to grow: we can expect an increase in car traffic of 53% by 2031. Journey times could also increase by 70%. Travel plans help keep the economy moving by reducing the number of cars on the road thus the costs of congestion will also drop.
- A travel plan is an easy addition to your green policies. The Government is due to set targets for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in the near future. Business having appropriate environmental policies (taking full account of transport impacts) will be at a great advantage.
- Staff health and well-being. Most alternatives to driving alone will increase the well-being of your staff, both physical and mental eg, a walk to the bus stop or a cycle to work; a chat to your car-share partner instead of cursing the congestion!
Lucky You!
Cambridgeshire employers are lucky! You have two well-respected organisations available to assist you with your travel plan initiatives.
The Travel for Work Partnership covers Cambridgeshire and the Travelchoice team covers the Peterborough City area. Both organisations have a menu of services and tools available from car share websites, to money for cycle stands. But perhaps the best resource on offer is the free expertise and experience of the two organisations.
Contact them today – you will be joining a whole network of organisations already well underway with ravel plans:
Travel for Work Partnership
www.tfw.org.uk
Tel:01223 712429
email: info@tfw.org.uk
Travelchoice Peterborough www.travelchoice.org.uk
Tel: 01733 747474
email Travelchoice@peterborough.gov.uk
New CamShare online 1st May!
Travel for Work is happy to announce that the new CamShare goes live today Thursday 1st May. Together with Cambridgeshire County Council TfW has appointed Liftshare.com to run the new CamShare. The new site has a slightly different address www.camshare.co.uk (links from the old address should still work).
The new CamShare will be officially launched in June. All existing members of CamShare have been transferred to the new system.
The new CamShare has several additional functions:
- Members of the public can now join for FREE
- You can now search for cycle journey matches as well as car share matches.
- the monitoring tools and statistical analysis available for business is excellent
We are confident that you will find the new CamShare an important tool in encouraging more car sharing. We will let our members know of plans for the CamShare launch as soon as they are firm.
Latest Changes to Bus Services
For changes to local services with effect from 26 May 2008 please see the information table available from our website.
Get your reward in Autumn 08!
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough
Travel Plan Awards will be held in Peterborough this Autumn.
Whether you have just starting out on the travel plan process, or are maintaining an established travel plan you could be eligible for an award in 2008.
If you would like to apply for an award please contact Mark Webb on 01223 712429 or email info@tfw.org.uk
More Cycle Shops Discounts
TfW is pleased to announce Cambridge based shops Ben Hayward Cycles and Howes Cycles have recently joined Cambridgeshire cycle shops in offering FULL TfW member employers discounts on their new bikes, accessories as well as parts used in their repairs service. To find out whether your employer is eligible for discounts view TfW Full Employers web page. To view discounts being offered by all shops please download our discounts poster.
Newsletter Published
Issue 20 - April 2008, of the newsletter is now published. Click here to download a copy of April's newsletter.
Take A Stand - Cash for Cycle Stands - Bidding window open until 30 June 2008
Cash for employee cycle parking is available through 'Take A Stand' initiative run by TfW and funded by Cambridgeshire County Council. An application form and guidance notes can be downloaded by right clicking the hyperlinks below and 'save as'
Application Form
Guidance Notes
TfL Workplace Cycle Parking Guide
Sustrans Cycle Parking information sheet
Please contact TfW on 01223 712455 for further information about this scheme and if you wish to make an application. Deadline for receipt of applications is Monday 30 June 2008.
Click here for a copy of the press release.
(08 May 2008)
Travel Plans Don't have to be Taxing?
FREE TfW network meeting
Held 18th March 2008 - Mott MacDonald, Demeter House, Cambridge CB1 2RS
The Travel for Work network meeting was all about the tax issues associated with travel plans. This is an important area of Travel Planning and one, for good reason, is difficult to understand.
Professor Stephen Potter from the Open University, an acknowledged expert in this area, gave the main talk at the event; his presentation is attached below.
Stephen has produced a very helpful and accessible (and mercifully short!) guide to this area of travel planning, which is downloadable below. A short biography of Steven is also attached.
In addition Katarina McCartney and Chris Jablonski gave employer presentations on how Addenbrooke's Hospital, and Huntingdonshire District Council chose their tax efficient cycle purchase scheme (presentations downloadable below).
We are grateful to TfW employer, Mott MacDonald for having sponsored this event and for the lavish buffet.
2007 TfW Survey - The best ever!
The 2007 travel to work survey saw 7,170 people from 28 organisations taking part - the best ever response. For the full picture click here for the TfW Survey 2007 results.
(03 Jan 2007)
Travel Planning Then, Now and into the future!
Travel for Work Conference - CANCELLED
It is with regret that the Travel for Work Partnership has had to cancel its conference that was due to take place 22nd November at Churchill College, Cambridge.
We have had too few delegates to make this a viable event.
The third annual Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Travel Plan Awards will however take place on the same day as planned. TfW is currently trying to find an alternative venue. We will let all attendees know once this has happened.
(3st Oct 2007)
CamShare Prize Draw!
during November 2007
CamShare, TfW's on-line car sharing data base www.camshare.info held a prize draw during the whole of November 2007.
Well done to the 5 lucky winners
- Val Bibbey at Cambourne Business Park who won a car safety pack £30
- Theresa Robinson & Liz Hawkins both of Cambridgeshire County Council each won £10 Marks & Spencer Voucher
- Michelle Riddick of Granta Park and Craig Thomas of Cambridgeshire County Council both won £10 WH Smith Card
The prize draw was open to new registrants and existing members who completed or up-dated their profile and searched for a car share match during November 2007.
CamShare is available to companies who have signed up to the scheme. If your company would like to have access please contact Mark Webb 01223 712429.
(31st Dec 2007)
Breakfast in the Antarctic!
TfW Breakfast Meeting:
Travel Plans and Climate Change
Attendees of the the latest TfW Network Breakfast held at and kindly sponsored by the British Antarctic Survey's (BAS) HQ in Cambridge, heard three extremely interesting and thought provoking presentations.
- BAS spoke about the research they are undertaking in the Antarctic into climate change and the initiatives they are implementing to reduce the environmental impact of the organisation.
- Papworth Hospital talked about why and how they have linked their new travel plan to the climate change agenda.
- And BEMS (Business Environmental Management Scheme) based in Peterborough spoke on how to link Travel Plans into wider environmental management schemes, such as ISO 14001.
We have had such positive feedback from the attendees of the breakfast that we are re-running the breakfast, allowing more time for the presentations and networking. So look out for details of the next breakfast to be held early next year.
To download these presentations please visit our case studies page.
(21 June 2007)
Newsletter Published
Issue 19 - May 2007, of the newsletter is now published. Click here to download a copy of May's newsletter.
PLEDGES TO THE SCIENCE OF TRAVEL PLANNING
Travel for Work has brought together big business and Cambridge transport chiefs to join together for the first time to pledge to make the daily commute more environmentally friendly.
Companies at the Cambridge Science Park have joined forces with the Travel for Work Partnership, the Highways Agency and Cambridgeshire County Council to launch Cambridge’s first Area Travel Plan.
Pledges were signed on Wednesday, May 2007, by these organisations committing them to helping to meet the aims of the plan. “The plan’s main focus is to encourage more cycling, walking, public transport use and car sharing over the next three years. A number of initiatives will be implemented to help commuters access more transport choices,” said David Abbott of the Highways Agency, which has funded the travel plan development stage.
For more information click here.
Get your reward in November!
We are very pleased to announce the 2007 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough
Travel Plan Awards.
Whether you have just starting out on the travel plan process, or are maintaining an established travel plan you could be eligible for an award in 2007.
“The Awards are a great way to get publicity for your efforts, and can be very motivating both for you and your staff,” said Richard Bettle at TfW. “So get in touch now to see which award you could get.”
The 2007 Awards ceremony will be held at Churchill College Cambridge on Thursday 22 November 2007.
If you would like to apply for an award please contact Richard Bettle or Mark Webb on 01223 712429 or email info@tfw.org.uk
TfW welcomes new partner
The Travel for Work Steering Group is delighted to welcome new group member, Huntingdonshire District Council (HDC).
“We have been grateful for TfW’s help in developing our own travel plan, and we know that the team is working with many of the larger employers in our district,” said Chris Jablonski, HDC’s Environment Team Leader. “We are looking forward to becoming more involved in running the TfW project.”
HDC will join other local councils, Cambridge City, South Cambridgeshire and the County Council, on the TfW steering group. HDC has also become a funding partner.
(3 April 07)
Travel Plan Power (Point) to download
Two members of the Travel for Work Partnership's network of employers gave very interesting presentations at the TfW and Chambers of Commerce joint breakfast meeting in February 2007.
The two very different companies showed us that any company of any size, of any type, can benefit from putting enthusiasm and effort into travel planning initiatives.
Mott MacDonald, is a national consultancy with 400 employees in offices near Cambridge railway Station has been a member of TfW for four years.
Marshall Group of Companies was one of the first companies to join TfW in 1998. The group is based at its Airport site on the eastern fringe of Cambridge, employing over 2,500 people.
Marshall's location, size and type of work could not be in greater contrast to the Mott MacDonald scenario.
To download these short interesting presentations visit the case studies page of this website.
(20 Mar 07)
CamShare Prize Draw held 6 Mar 2007
Three winners have been drawn from those who registered or up-dated their profile and searched on CamShare between 20th February and 5th March. Sarah Cooper of Cambridgeshire County Council, Gareth Norman of Global Graphics at Cambourne Business Park and an employee of Cambridge Consultants Ltd at Cambridge Science Park, have each won a WH Smith card to the value of £20.
TfW will shortly be running prizes for those car sharing. To enter the prize draw just click on www.camshare.info register and search to find a match or if you are car sharing up-date your profile.
If you have car sharing anecdotes, helpful hints or beneficial outcomes + photos to share with us we'd like to hear from you, please call 01223 712455.
(8 Mar 2007)
Employers to Chew Over Congestion:TfW & Chamber Breakfast - Friday 9th Feb 2007
company and contact details.
Press release:
Congestion is bad for business. Traffic is set to increase. Much needed road improvements, especially on the A14, are some time off. So what can be done to combat congestion now?
A special breakfast on Friday 9 February will give Cambridgeshire businesses ideas to help reduce congestion, save commuters’ time and money, help the environment and help the local economy.
The event at Cambridge City Airport is being run jointly by the Cambridgeshire Chambers of Commerce and the Travel for Work (TfW) Partnership.
Two Chamber members, Marshalls of Cambridge and consultant firm Mott MacDonald will offer travel plan tips to fellow employers by drawing on their own experiences and successful travel initiatives. They will explain how and, importantly, why they have decided to implement schemes that help their employees get into work each day.
Councillor John Reynolds, Cabinet Member for Community and the Environment will detail the County Council’s support for employers who undertake travel initiatives.
John Bridge OBE, Chief Executive of the Chambers of Commerce, who will also talk at the meeting, said:
“Increasing congestion on the roads is a growing concern for businesses and individuals across Cambridgeshire, not least because of the severe financial impact that it is having on those worst affected.
“Be it through lost hours due to staff finding themselves delayed on the roads, or penalties suffered due to missed delivery deadlines, businesses are quickly realising that something must be done sooner rather than later.”
Councillor Reynolds said :
“There has already been much good work undertaken by organisations in Cambridgeshire. If more employers get involved, together they will make a real impact on congestion. And the great news is that travel initiatives are fun and can greatly benefit the health of the company, the health of commuters, as well the health of the environment.”
Mark Webb, Development Manager at TfW, added:
“Over forty Cambridgeshire employers, with over 44,000 employees are already benefiting from promoting sustainable commuting. Even small and inexpensive schemes can make a real difference to the numbers of cars on the road. TfW can provide free advice and access to a raft of services that make travel planning easy.”
(19 Jan 07)
