Campaigner Award Winners 2019
Thank you to everyone who attended LCC’s 2019 AGM on Wednesday 16th October. One of the highlights of the evening was our Campaigner Awards – an opportunity for us to recognise all the hard work put in by our brilliant campaigners over the last year.
We received a long list of wonderful nominations – testament to the passion and dedication of all the nominees – and choosing just one winner for each category was extremely difficult.
A big thank you to Megan Sharkey and Amy Foster, Co-Chairs of C&AMS, who helped judge this year’s awards, and Terry Patterson, Chair of LCC’s Board of Trustees, who helped present the awards on the night.
1. Best Ride and Ride Leader
Highly Commended:
Robert Heyward – Robert has been successfully building a hugely popular ride programme in Bexley with Harry Clark (last year’s award winner), and experienced and friendly face for many new riders in the borough
Cycle Sisters and JoyRiders - Another group that have been massively successful at building an exceptional ride programme, that has been incredibly diverse, had provided training opportunities and pathways for many new riders in Waltham Forest.
Winner: Bruce Lynn
Bruce Lynn is a highly experienced ride leader, running Southwark’s Healthy Rides, a model that has proved so popular it’s being replicated in other boroughs. He has led rides every week, enabling a huge number of people to experience the joy of cycling, and been a tireless contributor to Southwark Cyclists.
2. Best infrastructure campaign
Highly Commended:
Lambeth Cyclists have worked hard over the last year to build the relationship with the council anew, and that is bearing fruit. There is a shift in the conversations, with not only the council being more ambitious in their schemes, but also in opening a more constructive dialogue between the group and councillors and officers.
Southwark Cyclists have also worked tirelessly to ensure that Cycleway 4 (from Tower Bridge to Greenwich) has continued to move forward. This sustainable campaigning effort has seen the construction of the first section of the route at Tooley Street, and the group led 6 weeks of flyering to promote positive responses to the missing section of CW4 on Lower Road, as well as the corresponding consultation on the first section of the Peckham – Rotherhithe route.
Winner: Hounslow Cycling Campaign
In September this year, Hounslow took another step closer to Cycle Way 9 – it received unanimous approval at the cabinet meeting. Hounslow Cycling Campaign spoke at the meeting, and that win was the result of years of continuous and effective campaigning. In the run up to the cabinet meeting, the ‘stop CS9’ campaign was in full flow, but was met by mythbusting and facts, culminating in a rebuttal of all of objections to CW9 by the council.
3. Best campaign initiative
Winner: BetterStreet4KC
A positive outcome of the collapse of the Wood Lane/Holland Park Avenue consultation is the resurgent group in Kensington and Chelsea, which has been dormant for years. Within a few months, they have become a positive voice in K&C, building relationships with key stakeholders, including with those in the council who have been reluctant to engage on cycling for years.
We are so pleased to have this group, and look forward to seeing them go from strength to strength in the coming years!
4. Best family-friendly event
Winner: Sarah Javaid, Family Cycling Fun Day
Sarah organised the Family Cycling Fun Day in June, attracting 1000 people from the local community to the event. Alongside a bouncy castle, food stalls and face painting, Hackney Family Cycling Library/Carry Me Bikes and Bikeworks with their All Ability bikes were there, offering the opportunity for everyone to try a wide range of cycles. The Dr Bike stands had queues up to 2 hours long at points, and Cycle Sisters and JoyRiders were also involved, teaching cycle skills. An incredibly successful and joyful event.
5. Campaigner of the Year
Highly Commended:
Dan Kelly – Dan has been a key figure in the Waltham Forest group, and as Council Liaison Officer continues to impact schemes, pushing them to the world leading quality. He has also shared this knowledge with as many people as possible, running an incredible number of Mini-Holland tours, from councillors and MPs across London, to fellow campaigners, and transport ministers, showcasing the success of the cycling interventions LCC have long championed.
Sean Howes - Sean was nominated not just for his amazing work in Southwark on CW4 (see Best Infrastructure campaign for more info), but also because of the amount of time and effort he puts in outside his borough group, supporting others and strengthen the network – not only did he set up Active Travel Now, he also organised the Local Group Summer Social to bring together campaigners.
Our campaigner of the year is Tim Lennon
He has been a stalwart of LCC for many years, and recently has seen all his hard work for Richmond Cycling Campaign translate into a shift within the council, the result of which is the ambitious proposals for the Low Traffic Neighbourhood for East Sheen. In the face of some He has done this in the face of some incredibly hostile opposition, Tim has been its champion, building a supportive base of local stakeholders, attending meetings, and shoring up support for the scheme.
6. Outstanding Contribution to Cycle Campaigning
Next month, Andy will be stepping down as coordinator of Southwark Cyclists, and we wanted to recognise his outstanding contribution to cycle campaigning tonight.
Andy has been involved with LCC from the very beginning, and alongside the time and energy spent coordinating Southwark Cyclists, Andy:
- Transported thousands of cyclists back from the Dunwich Dynamo each year
- Established Road Safety Patrols with Michael Barret, an award winning programme which now runs London wide
- Experienced ride leader, running Southwark's Freecycle feeder rides and others
- Been instrumental in saving the Herne Hill Velodrome – and south London cycling institution.
Thank you Andy, for all you time, energy and campaigning for London.
