‘Cycling lady’ to celebrate 30 years of promoting road safety awareness in Aberdeenshire

An Aberdeenshire woman, known as the 'cycling lady', is to mark three decades of raising road safety awareness in North East schools.

June Andrew has been Aberdeenshire Council’s Transport Safety Education Officer for the last eight years and is a former Road Safety Officer with Grampian Police.

She has recently been singled out for praise by Cycling Scotland for her "significant efforts" in promoting the Bikeability Scotland scheme. It's designed to give children the skills and confidence they need to cycle safely and to encourage them to carry on cycling into adulthood.

June said: “Learning to cycle safely is an essential life skill for children and with the Scottish Government guidance encouraging walking and cycling to school, Bikeability Scotland supports that outdoor learning process.

“Bikeability Scotland supports the next generation of confident and responsible road users and there’s a very high uptake for the courses with around 85 per cent of schools in Aberdeenshire engaged in this vital training.”

She added: “I absolutely love doing the Bikeability Scotland sessions and I always get a very warm welcome at the schools to the cries of 'it’s the cycling lady!'. It’s very rewarding seeing the children complete the course, particularly seeing those who may never have ridden a bike before achieving success.”

Marianne Scott, Regional Cycle Training & Development Officer, said: “On behalf of Cycling Scotland, I would like to acknowledge the significant effort you have made to ensure children across Aberdeenshire continue to benefit from Bikeability Scotland.

“In the last year you have delivered 35 courses to new instructors and by sharing your experience and enthusiasm, staff and volunteers across the authority are well supported to help children learn to cycle safely.

“Following on from your award in 2020, recognising your role in supporting over 25,000 children through the programme, we are grateful for your ongoing commitment to delivering cycle training as part of road safety education, particularly against the backdrop of a pandemic. We also recognise the improvements that have been made to national resources as an impact of your contributions.”