Burnley nursery children get on their bikes thanks to National Lottery

A Burnley nursery school has been successful in getting National Lottery funding to help encourage their youngster to become more active.
Sarah Darcy (right) and head teacher Gail Murphy with some of the youngsters at Taywood Nursery School who have taken part in the bike scheme.Sarah Darcy (right) and head teacher Gail Murphy with some of the youngsters at Taywood Nursery School who have taken part in the bike scheme.
Sarah Darcy (right) and head teacher Gail Murphy with some of the youngsters at Taywood Nursery School who have taken part in the bike scheme.

Burnley Leisure will help the deliver the project at Taywood Nursery School following a successful bid to the national Awards for All scheme.

The funding will be used to improve the outdoor space at the nursery so that the youngsters have space to take part in a Balanceability scheme which helps them to learn to ride a bike.

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Sarah Darcy, of Burnley Leisure, said: “We recently trialed some Balanceability sessions within the nursery that proved to be a huge success. Balanceability not only teaches children to ride/cycle but also develops general balance skills, hand eye co ordination, spacial awareness and team work. It teaches skills that will benefit the children for the rest of their lives.

“The children enjoyed the sessions and wanted to be able to do more. Parents were all positive and glad that their children were being able to access bikes through the project and hoped this could be continued.

“We also spoke to staff about this project and they are all fully behind developing this within the daily activities in order to promote cycling, fun and develop balance skills.”

Headteacher Gail Murphy said: “We’re really excited to have been successful in our Let’s Ride bid with the National Lottery Awards for All funding.

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“The children love the sessions. We have targeted our most disadvantaged families or those with children who would benefit from additional support. We invited parents to join in and they have been surprised how confidently their child has been able to ride already.

“We are investing in bikes and equipment and working with Burnley Leisure to deliver the Balanceability sessions, as well as training our own staff to ensure the project can continue.

“We also want to put artificial grass down on a section of the yard in order to make it safer for our children to practice and minimise injuries. We have very limited space indoors so we want to make the most of our outdoor spaces.

“We’re also going to link into a recycling scheme run by Burnley Leisure where they will fix old bikes that are left at recycling centres and make them roadworthy. These will be offered to our families as a way of getting more bikes to children at home as well.”