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Milton Keynes organisations cycled the equivalent of two and a half times around the world as a result of the Cycle-MK Challenge, which ended last month.
Over three weeks 1,170 people from 76 organisations took part in the free competition designed to help workers build biking into their everyday lives.
Businesses had to encourage their staff to cycle, for as little as ten minutes, over the period. 69, 917 miles were ridden over 6,854 trips. The CO2 saving equated to 10,415kg, while participants burnt eight million KJ of energy – the equivalent of 10,537 Big Macs.
The Cycle-MK Challenge was run by Milton Keynes Council and NHS Milton Keynes in conjunction with the Department for Health South East, CTC and Challenge for Change.
“We are extremely proud of the overwhelming success of the Cycle-MK Challenge, the commitment and passion shown from organisations around the city has been second to none,: said Ceri Griffin, Cycling and Walking development officer for Milton Keynes Council. ."We hope to continue this success with more planned activities over the coming years that encourage widespread cycle use in Milton Keynes.”
Ian Richardson, CTC Business Development manager said: “The response to The Workplace Challenge from the businesses of Milton Keynes has been phenomenal. The city had the largest number of participants in the country, and also the greatest number of first time cyclists, which really is testament to the way in which the organisations embraced the whole challenge.”
Isobel Stoddart, Finding New Solutions Programme Manager from Cycling England continued: “I have been overwhelmed by the great results achieved in Milton Keynes which really prove The Workplace Challenge is a fantastic tool to encourage people on their bikes. There is so much potential in Milton Keynes and Cycle England is looking forward to future successful initiatives in the city.”
