June 2015

June was a bumper month for the schools programme where we celebrated National Bike Week which is celebrated in Limerick via the Limerick Smarter Travel BeSpoke Cycling Festival. Some of the wonderful events undertaken in schools throughout the month of June are outlined below. Please visit our Limerick Smarter Travel Schools Programme  Flickr Gallery for further images and stories from National Bike Week 2015.

National Bike Week 2015
National Bike Week is a key event in the Limerick Smarter Travel calendar where we organise a range of activities to promote cycling across workplaces, communities and schools. Limerick was a hive of cycling activity and this is thanks to the wonderful students and teachers working on the ground.

Mary Queen of Ireland kicked off the schools bike week with a major bike fixing workshop with 3rd-6th class students. Students were invited to learn the various parts of the bicycle, how to conduct minor fixes and which tools to use. Over 90 students participated in the event on Friday June 12th. 

School Travel exhibition in Limerick City Library (June 12th -25th). This exhibition was comprised of entries from our 'Travel Smart' competition  which was launched in May 2015. 

The Gleeson family were out in force at the BeSpoke Bike Expo on June 13th 2015. The Limerick Smarter Travel Bike Expo was held on Bedford Row and was designed to showcase cycling related work underway across the city. Visit www.limericksmartertravel.ie for more details. 

St. Brigids National School, Singland held their 2nd annual LST school bike fixing event in association with Halfords (Ballysimon) on June 16th 2015. Over 60 bicycles were seen to!!

Over 480 students from study area schools cycled on June 18th ( National Cycle to School Day 2015)

The 3rd annual Golden Bike Award was won by St.Brigids  NS, Singland for the third year in a row!. An average of 130 students cycled to school for each day of National Bike Week 2015! Well done

Other School Events

Scooter Training 

Bicycles didn't get all of the attention this month. Several schools took part in our new scooter training workshop as part of their school  travel action plan. Scooter training is one of our flagship workshops which is gaining popularity across the hubs. The aim of this workshop is to raise awareness about the use of scooters as a mode of transport and to deliver safety messages for scooting to school. On June 22nd the schools programme officers visited An Modhscoil to complete training with three 3rd class groups. We had an absolutely brilliant morning! Thank you An Modhscoil! 

An  Modhscoil,O'Connell Avenue, Scooter Training Workshop (June 22nd)

Walk or Cycle Road Signs 
Two new sets of 'walk or cycle' signs were erected outside St.Brigids NS and Sexton Street as June drew to a close. These road signs were designed in 2011 to raise awareness about students walking or cycling in the area and are granted to schools that make an exceptional effort to promote sustainable travel in their school. There are now six sets of signs in place in school districts across the city with more due to be installed in the coming few months. Thank you Rory from Limerick City Council for your continued support of the schools programme. 

New Walk or Cycle Sign on Sexton Street (June 2015)

This is just a snapshot of the various events that took place during the month of June. Limerick Smarter Travel would like to express our gratitude to the teachers and students of Limerick City & Castletroy and we wish you all a fantastic summer break!! 

HAVE A GREAT SUMMER EVERYONE!

For further information on the schools programme please visit our website www.limericksmartertravel.ie 

Regular updates relating to the project are provided via Twitter : @lksmartertravel or @gstravellimerick

and Facebook : Limerick Smarter Travel

September 2014

Welcome back everyone!!
September is an exciting month for schools and for many it is the beginning of a whole new chapter. It was a busy time for the schools programme and we have lots of news!! 


European Mobility Week kicks off across the city 
European Mobility Week is an annual campaign to promote sustainable travel in the urban environment. This event encourages local authorities across Europe to introduce and promote sustainable travel measures and invite citizens to try out alternatives to car use. This is an exciting week which offers an insight into the work underway across Europe to promote sustainable travel. The schools programme had an absolutely brilliant action packed week with selfies, bus tours, bike fixing events and walking action days across the hubs. Check out our news snippets from the week below. 

Bus in the City 2014

'Bus in the City' is the schools programme annual flagship event for European Mobility Week where we team up with schools, An Taisces Green-Schools Travel programme, Bus Eireann and An Garda Siochana to run a series of interactive workshops on Limerick City buses. The purpose of the event is bring students out of the classroom to experience public transport first hand and learn more about the various aspects of public transport. This year we invited schools to apply whereby successful applicants received a tailored route map for their workshop beginning at a bus stop nearest their school. As the bus proceeds along its set route, students are invited to interview the bus conductor, receive talks about the environmental benefits of sustainable travel from Green-Schools and learn more about infrastructural improvements in place as part of the Limerick Smarter Travel Project as they are encountered along the route. In addition, the bus stops at Henry Street Garda Station where a community officer boards the bus to discuss 'stranger danger' with students. This years event was the biggest ever where over 400 students from seven study area schools participated between September 16-20th 2015 and we even had a visit from RTE NEWS2DAY on one of the days. We had a fantastic few days and thanks again to Andrew from Bus Eireann for making it happen. For images associated with this event please visit https://flic.kr/s/aHsk2UBCH3.

Students from Scoil Ide (Corbally) all set with their tickets for 'Bus in the City'

Students from Galvone NS  (Southside) boarding the bus at their local bus stop

Salesian Infant School filming their  Bus in the City Adventure with RTE News2day 

If you would like your school to participate in this workshop in September 2015 please contact us to register your interest or visit our website

Travel Selfie Campaign 2014
Schools across the study area were invited to take ‘selfies’ highlighting their preferred mode of transport using specially made bike/feet glasses adapted from Sustrans #saferoutestoschool campaign. This campaign was designed to illustrate how people would travel given the choice as part of this years 'your streets, your choice' theme. We received some fantastic shots from schools and the wider community which are available from our school travel gallery here.

The best travel selfie ever

Twitter updates from St. Patricks GNS

Bike Repair in Southill 
The schools programme was invited by the Southill Mens Shed group to support their fourth bike fixing event as part of their centres community fun day. This group has worked with the schools programme to complete school hub bike bonanzas since June 2013 and it was wonderful to visit the centre again to work with the theme. Over the course of the morning they worked with over 40 bicycles and took real ownership of the event. Images from this event are available here

School Hub bike fixing event with the Southill Mens Shed Group as part of their community fun day 

Walk on Wednesday

St. Patricks BNS re-launched their Walk on Wednesday or 'W.O.W.' initiative on Wednesday 17th September as part of European Mobility Week. This fantastic school have been working with the schools programme since March 2013 and have tackled the concept with gusto. On the day, the travel committee were out in force to distribute stickers to those that walked or parked & strode to school which was then followed by a monster school raffle. Mary Queen of Ireland in Caherdavin also re-launched their WOW initiative where over 80% participated. Well done guys!

St. Patricks BNS re-launch their WOW initiative for European Mobility Week


Please visit our website for further updates on events delivered in Workplaces and Communities for European Mobility Week 2014

For further information on the schools programme please visit our website www.limericksmartertravel.ie . 

Regular updates relating to the project are provided via Twitter : @lksmartertravel or @gstravellimerick

and Facebook : Limerick Smarter Travel

July /August 2014

Its been a busy summer for the schools programme where we have put a great deal of work into planning for the year ahead. This year we are hoping to work closely with secondary schools and have a series of action projects designed to actively engage secondary school students in the concept of sustainable travel. We have also put together some plans to deliver city wide school travel initiatives such as 'Walk Smart', 'School Car Free Day' and much much more. Updates on each of these campaigns will be delivered via this newsletter and our online social media. 

Upcoming School Travel Events

European Mobility Week is due to occur from September 16-20th 2014. This is a major week of action across Europe and as Irelands Demonstration City for sustainable travel, Limerick has some great events planned

Travel Selfies 

 'Your Streets, Your Choice' is the theme of this years event so we thought we would reach out into the community to see how people would chose to travel given the choice. As part of our participation in European Mobility Week 2014 we are organizing a 'travel selfie' campaign for study area schools and the wider community.This campaign is based on Sustrans #saferoutestoschool campaign where we are inviting study area schools to post selfies to our twitter and facebook accounts. All you have to do is decide which mode you prefer! 

Travel Selfie Glasses  (Cycling) 2014

Travel Selfie Glasses (Walking) 2014

Glasses will be sent to all schools in early September. Please contact our office if you don't receive your pair prior to the 16th of September 

Bus in the City 

We are now accepting applications for Bus in the City 2014. This event aims to bring students out of the classroom and explore the city by bus. Places are limited so please apply as soon as possible. A copy of the invitation provided to schools with details on how to register is available here 

Walk on Wednesday 
If your school would like to hold a 'Walk on Wednesday (W.O.W.) or travel action day during European Mobility Week please contact your travel officer for support.

Contact us if you would like to hold a WOW day during the month of September 

Looking forward to seeing you all again!

For further information on the schools programme please visit our website www.limericksmartertravel.ie . 

Regular updates relating to the project are provided via Twitter : @lksmartertravel or @gstravellimerick

and Facebook : Limerick Smarter Travel