Cricketers Get Behind Activate Sport Foundation Bike Challenge

School sport has been at the top of the public agenda since the Olympics. How do you bring free sport to pupils and encourage sporting excellence and a healthy lifestyle?

Activate Sport Foundation believes it has the answer.

With the backing of some of the top British sports stars of today, it is raising funds to promote its free The Co-operative Active Culture programme to 80,000 children across at least 200 primary schools over the next year.

First stop in the fund-raising campaign is a 210-mile bike ride over three days from Manchester Velodrome to Regents Park in London, with 30 people taking part, led by Luke Sutton, director of Activate Sport Management and ex-captain of Derbyshire Cricket Club. Funds raised will pay for sports coaches to spend a term at each school in 2013.

Activate Sport Foundation, in partnership with The Co-operative, launched the campaign after conducting an extensive survey with head teachers across the country, which revealed that what schools really need is not equipment but quality sport and activity instruction, with programmes that teach parents and teachers about maintaining an active culture in schools for the medium and long term.

The campaign’s sporting patrons include cricketer Andrew Flintoff, World number 3 golfer Lee Westwood, International Rugby Player of the Year Shane Williams, Britain’s former number 1 women’s tennis player Annabel Croft and Olympic heptathlon gold medallist Denise Lewis. TV news anchor Mark Austin is also a patron.



Setting out from the Manchester Velodrome on Friday morning 7 September, the cyclists will make their way through Buxton and Ashbourne, finishing in Willington in Derby at the end of day 1. Day 2 sees them going to Milton Keynes and day 3 will take them on to London.

More info is at http://www.activatesport.co.uk/foundation/2012-pledge-an-active-culture/