New cycle storage hub open at Newham Hospital
A change idea born out of the WeCycle component of WeImprove has become a reality, thanks to the London Borough of Newham. They have generously funded and installed a brand new, sheltered and secure cycle parking hub for Newham hospital staff – and it’s open for use from today!
The hub, located by the West Entrance car park, is available to staff to store their bikes while at work and includes 50 cycle spaces. There’s also 50 outdoor cycle spaces available for the public to use. It was designed, manufactured, supplied and installed by Falco, with input from the Trust’s design team. And cleverly, they designed it so that the whole hub is waterproof. Brilliant.
Cycling has long been considered a great way to travel and commute. For example, the many who have embraced this active and sustainable mode of transport will tell you that once familiar with your route, you can rely on the time it takes to commute. This makes it a more consistent mode of transport than driving or taking public transport, where traffic, delays and cancellations often increase your journey time. Also, when choosing to cycle, you’re being more active and you’re less exposed to air pollution compared to if you drive. This is because when you drive, you are breathing in the air pollution that circulates inside the vehicle, especially when in traffic.
The benefits of cycling have become ever more apparent during this Covid-19 pandemic, with many staff switching to cycling to commute so as to avoid public transport. We hope that this new hub provides a great boost for the cycling enthusiasts among our staff, and offers a new incentive to those thinking about taking it up.
How to access the hub
To gain access to the cycling hub, you will need to visit site security with your ID badge in person. They will then add you to the list of users and grant you access via your ID badge, which will open the main gate of the hub. It couldn’t be simpler!
While the hub is secure and ID access is required to enter, staff are encouraged to still lock up their bikes inside the hub using their own personal lock.
The QI component
While this new cycling hub was funded by the London Borough of Newham, the Quality Improvement (QI) team at Newham Hospital played a big part in making it come to life. Now that the hub is up and running – their work isn’t done.
The sustainability team supporting this initiative will record and keep track of the number of people using the cycling hubs in Life QI system with the support of the QI team. This information will inform the QI project outcome measure of the number of cyclists using the facility. Doing this will allow the bicycle user group (BUG) team to always ensure that the correct storage capacity is available on the site to allow for safe storage of staff bikes. If you want to join the Newham Hospital BUG team, simply drop them an email.
And another thing…
- If you are looking for a new bike, you can save with help from the ‘cycle to work’ scheme, up to the amount of £2,500. Head to the Cycle scheme website or the salary sacrifice WeShare page for more information (Note: employer code is 8233BF).
- If you want to build up your experience, then Cycle Buddies may be right for you. An experienced cyclist can ride with you as you get used to your local streets, help you plan a longer journey finding the right route for you, and just give you moral support.
- If you are looking for cycle training then we’d recommend you contact your local council to find out about the free cycle training they provide.
- The WeCycle co-chairs are James Napier (ITU lead consultant) and Sally Malone (therapies team). Do approach them If want to be part of the bike user group to drive improvements at Newham Hospital and ensure that they’re sustainable.
- Catriona Rowland is the Quality improvement coach supporting this initiative at Newham Hospital
- There is a waiting list for the 40 green, personal, cycle lockers located around the site. If you wish to be added to this list, just email the team.
Cycle hub in progress
