As Cycle to Work Day is celebrated across country, new improved cycle parking facilities at are now in place at Stepping Hill Hospital to riding a bike an easier option for both staff and patients.

The £10,000 improvement to the cycle facilities has been made possible thanks to extra funding as part of the Active Travel Fund Cycle Parking Grants from  Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM.)  

Having more cycles and less cars on the road is better for the environment, and cycling can also be of great benefit to an individual’s health. In December 2020, the UK Government committed a further £16m to Greater Manchester (GM) to deliver 24 miles of permanent cycling and walking routes. As part of this, a set of complementary measures have been developed, including grants for cycle parking.

In Greater Manchester, the goal is to “double and double again” the number of cycle journeys and has published the Made to Move plan to support this. As a part of Made to Move, TfGM is delivering the Bee Network; a plan for the UK’s largest cycling and walking network. The plan for the network is to have more than 1,800 miles of fully joined up cycling and walking routes, with schemes being successfully built since 2019.

The new facilities are more attractive and secure, have added shelter, and allow for a much greater number of cycles to be parked. The main new facility is near the main entrance.   Encouraging more cycling is part of Stockport NHS Foundation Trust’s Green Plan to achieve a 75% cut in business travel emissions by 2030, and an overall reduction of  greenhouse emissions by 85% by 2032. It is also hoped it will help alleviate the pressure on car parking facilities on the site. 

Paul Featherstone, Director of Estates and Facilities for Stockport NHS Foundation Trust said “Cycling can be good for our physical and mental health. Enabling more people to make cycling journeys will improve health, quality of life and the environment, and local productivity, while at the same time reducing costs to the public purse. These are big ‘win-wins’ that benefit individual people and the community as a whole. I’m delighted that with help from TfGM we’ve been able to make these improvements to our cycling facilities, and I hope more cyclists make use of them from among our staff, and patients and visitors alike.”