SCHOOLCHILDREN in Oswestry have received free balance bike training.

The Bikeability Balance sessions, which came to The Meadows Primary School earlier this month, are benefitting 2,000 youngsters thanks to a successful bid by Shropshire Council to the Department for Transport’s Bikeability Trust.

The training helps children as young as four and five years old to learn how to balance and control a small bike, making it easier for them to progress onto riding a pedal bike while not being held back by stabilisers.

Cecilia Motley, Shropshire Council’s cabinet member with responsibility for cycling, said: “This is now turning in to a trailblazing project, a game changer for promoting cycling in Shropshire.

“Balance bikes have proved a very effective way to help young children balance and steer. It’s fantastic that Shropshire Council has been successful in our application for balance funding which will see the scheme go from strength to strength.

“Teaching children cycling skills early on is very important for their confidence and ultimately their safety. The sessions will provide the children with valuable exercise and a positive early introduction to cycling as a fantastic form of physical activity.”

Shropshire Council’s public health team got the scheme off to a flying start by funding a fleet of 15 balance bikes, a small pedal bike and helmets which participating schools can access.

With this funding, the authority can now offer a balance bike to every child at the start of their school life.

Sam Cartlidge of Learn Cycling said: “With Bikeability Balance, using fun games and play children get a very happy, positive experience of riding a bike right at the start of their school life.

"With skills and confidence, this will improve the voluntary uptake in the main Bikeability cycle training – the new ‘cycle proficiency’ – scheme available later in primary school.

"In turn, it will see more children cycling as teenagers and into adulthood, for both leisure and as a mode of travel.”