Launch of new Family activities club

A group of friends have launched a new family friendly activities club in a bid to get more children and families taking part in outdoor fun.

The Bus Stop Bikers, so-named because of the starting point where they meet in Roe Lee, Blackburn, was the brainchild of Kevin and Vicky Riddehough, from Roe Lee, who are now are taking on setting up this new venture alongside friend Craig Rawcliffe.

They wanted to make the most of bike rides with daughter Summer, eight, after struggling to find groups that encouraged family friendly cycling opportunities in the area.

Kevin said: “After talking to lots of families, it seemed that there wasn’t enough interest for just cycling with kids so we planned to broaden our horizons with this new club and offer a much wider scope of activities, with family involvement being the theme running throughout the club. The good thing is that it’s inclusive and open to all ages.”

The new group, named ‘The Young Weavers’ is being supported by the Council’s Connect project, a scheme set-up to promote sustainable transport in the borough.

The Connect project is funding high visibility vests for the children to help keep them safe and visible when out cycling.

Kevin, who is a dad of three and is a member of British Cycling, said:

“The Bus Stop Bikers has been a huge success and we now want to put a focus on our original plan of encouraging more family friendly fun.

Cycling’s a family thing for us, we recently went to France with our daughter Summer and  tackled Mont Ventoux, probably the most famous and feared climbs of the Tour de France – cycling gives children a great sense of achievement in a fun way.
We want to encourage families to come along and get active with their children. We will look at putting on further events to take us throughout the winter months, with a planned photography competition early in December and an art class in early January.

Our main emphasis is on ‘Family Fun’ – improving the health and wellbeing of everyone in the borough, getting out and about together on a regular basis.

This is Your Community – This is our Call to you – let’s get together and make a difference.”

Get involved with a family walk

A family walk around Witton, Pleasington & Hoghton Bottoms  is taking place on Saturday, November 8 at 11am.

Meet for a start and finish at the Witton Park Pavilion.

The walk takes people along the Beamers Trail; this is a fairly easy walk of six miles. The Beamers Trail is one of 4 trails that make up the longer Weavers Way surrounding our town.With a couple of climbs at the beginning of the walk, the rest is relatively flat and suitable for all levels of walkers.

The group are hoping to make this a regular feature of alternating easy bike rides followed by a family walk event.

Councillor Maureen Bateson, Executive Member for Regeneration, said:

“As a Council we are really keen to encourage more groups like this and will do what we can to support them .

Kevin and Vicky have done an amazing job getting people out on their bikes. We all remember those bike rides we went on as children and it’s important our generation of young people do not miss out on those experiences and happy memories.
I’m delighted to see that families are being encouraged to get out together and bond whilst doing something active and fun.”

If you would like any further information please feel free to contact either Vicky, Kevin or Craig at: theyoungweavers@gmail.com