SEMLEP collaboration project - Sustrans

Who are we?

Sustrans makes smarter travel choices possible, desirable and inevitable. We`re a leading UK charity enabling people to travel by foot, bike or public transport for more of the journeys we make every day.

What can we offer?

Sustrans is passionate about supporting individuals and communities to secure a good level of community connectivity and access to skills, services, employment and education. We have over 30 years' experience of developing and delivering practical, cost-effective initiatives that enable many more people to travel by foot, bike or public transport, throughout the whole of the UK. Furthermore, Sustrans can support the strengthening of community cohesion through our activities and we would be keen to discuss this further with potential partners.

Sustrans firmly believes that our local sustainable transport cross-cutting interventions, promoting walking and cycling (both in terms of infrastructure development and behavioural change), are designed to Tackle Poverty and Promote Social Inclusion as addressed through EU Thematic Objective (TO9) as expressed through SEMLEP’s EU SIF “Priority 6” People Centred aspirations (page 25) and its Social Inclusion Programme where access to transport is specifically mentioned on page 106 “Improving Access to Opportunities, e.g. tackling barriers to work, developing basic and lower level skills, pre-employment training, and improving transport accessibility to opportunities”.

Sustrans can demonstrate the need for such an intervention though the theme of “Transport Poverty, which we highlighted as an issue in 2013. In summary, nearly 1.5 million people are at high risk of suffering from Transport Poverty and that 50% of English local authorities in have at least one high risk area.

Of course, it also offers much more in terms of a “sense of place” including local vitality and health and well-being benefits as well as potentially meeting other SEMLEP SIF aspirations, such as TO4 - Low Carbon Economy where Programme 1.3 on Low Carbon makes reference to Sustainable Transport, page 51 and SEMLEP “Priority 4” on Infrastructure and Growth which recognises the importance of walking and cycle in terms of a tourism offer, Page 81 onwards, in reference to Programme 4.2 on Enhancing Local Infrastructure and Environments.

More information on Sustrans and our services is available via www.sustrans.org.uk/our-services/what-we-do.

Who do we wish to partner and project ideas?

We are keen to support any organisations or consortia which wish to address social inequality or support the development of green infrastructure.

Sustrans sees its offer, of providing better travel opportunities, as an integral part of a package of solutions rather than as acting as an thematic lead, potentially focusing on infrastructure development, eco/green/rural tourism, access to services and education as well as jobs and training, for example in the setting up of community based training and employment hubs etc, though this is not an exclusive list.

Contact details

For more details on our activities in Northamptonshire, please contact our Regional Director for the East Midlands, Matt Easter, on matthew.easter@sustrans.org.uk or 0115 853 2949/07787 289292.

Alternatively, if you are interested in activities within SEMLEP’s East of England area (which excludes Northamptonshire), please contact nigel.brigham@sustrans.org.uk or 01733 319981/07557 121695.