Published on Monday 27 April 2020
Significant demand has led BCP Council to fund an extended period of free Beryl Bike usage to NHS staff and other key workers, until the end of June.
BCP Council and Beryl Bikes are pleased to announce a funding extension to their hugely popular drive to support NHS staff and other key workers through offering them free use of the Beryl bikeshare programme which operates across Bournemouth and Poole.
173,200 minutes have already been gifted, enabling close to 1000 journeys to be taken by key workers as a result of the BCP Council funded scheme, allowing them to undertake essential journeys for free, including to and from their place of work, while maintaining safe distances from others. To date, users of the scheme have included paramedics, hospital porters, supermarket workers, homeless outreach workers, police officers, teachers, social care workers, refuse operatives, train guards, nurses and other NHS workers.
Councillor Andy Hadley, Cabinet Member for Transport and Infrastructure at BCP Council, said: "I am delighted we have been able to continue to support key workers with extending the free use of Beryl Bikes.
"The take-up of this offer has been brilliant and shows how welcome the scheme is to those on the frontline of the COVID-19 crisis. It is hugely rewarding to be able to help them fulfil their essential roles in these challenging times, and great to see so many other people using bikes for sensible exercise whilst the roads are quiet.
"I would ask those who are driving vehicles for essential reasons to remember to give people on bikes enough space, especially as they pass pedestrians cyclists may move out to try to give them more room."
Philip Ellis, CEO and Co-founder of Beryl Bikes said "This initiative has been rolled out across all of our schemes in the UK, and the BCP area has enjoyed an exceptional uptake. The support we have received from BCP Council has enabled us to make this free access widely available to all key workers across Bournemouth and Poole"
"As we get used to this new way of life we are afforded the opportunity to see how we can do things differently. This initiative reminds us that there are greener, cleaner and healthier ways to travel. As we slowly go back to our daily commutes and non-essential activities, we hope even more of Bournemouth and Poole will choose active and sustainable transport".
Safety is a core value of Beryl Bikes and, as such, users are encouraged to wash their hands before and after use, to stay two metres away from others whilst cycling and not to ride in groups. In addition, thanks to Poole-based company Muc-Off, Beryl teams are equipped with antibacterial spray to disinfect the bikes wherever possible.
Key workers wanting to use one of the Beryl Bikes available across 219 bays in the local area simply need to download the free Beryl Bikes app and share details of their key worker status with the Beryl team. NHS workers with access to an NHS email can use this to sign up and gain automatic access to free rides.
For further details contact Beryl at support@beryl.cc or visit their website.