Cycling for Everyone; a report by Sustrans and Arup, which sets out recommendations for the transport industry to help tackle inequalities in cycling in urban areas has been published. After speaking at a few events Sustrans held on cycling and equality, it was an honour to write the foreword for the report. It’s rather frank, and I’m glad Sustrans gave me carte blanche to write it this way.
A lot of talk about cycling is going on in the UK media at the moment, due to the recent Government Health report, which also came out in the same week. To be honest with you, a lot of that report and suggestions made in it do not sit right in my spirit. Fat shaming, fatphobia, and stigmatising folx is NOT the one. It’s problematic. I stand in solidarity with everyone and their loved ones who have been made to feel terrible by this and a system which continually fails you. At this end, Mamma V who isn’t tip-top at the moment is currently going through elements of this bullshit with her health, weight and GP’s assumptions about ‘sedentary lifestyles’, and it’s incredibly crap.
I hope my foreword and this report are taken in, attention is paid and changes are actually made. More details about the report can be viewed on the Sustrans Blog and you can also download the full guide as a PDF.
Big love,
Jools.
