York's young cyclists are now brighter and more visible than ever, thanks to Ware & Kay LLP

“There is nothing more important than the safety of our children. Making them more visible while they learn the essential skills of riding a bike is critical. We at Ware & Kay LLP are very proud to be associated with the City of York Council in promoting this campaign” David Hyams (Partner, Ware & Kay LLP)

York’s young cyclists are now brighter and more visible than ever, thanks to Ware & Kay LLP’s new 3 year partnership with City of York Council, launched in February 2007. After looking at various different possibilities in which we could contribute to the wider community, Ware & Kay now demonstrates Corporate Social Responsibility (‘CSR’) by providing high visibility tabards to the 5,000 plus children who take part in the Council’s school cycling programme. We hope that this will encourage more young cyclists to take to the roads safely The Council’s programme, delivered to every school in the city, trains children to a nationally recognised standard, equipping them with the skills they need in order to cycle confidently and safely along York’s busy roads.

Designed by York company Brackenhill, the tabards carry the ‘A Brighter Way with Ware & Kay’ slogan. This slogan is intended to incorporate the campaign’s broader scope, which includes promoting healthy lifestyles through exercise and endorsing an environmentally friendly mode of transport. Also carrying the ‘Brighter Way’ slogan was the bus advertisement (see PDF below) which we/Ware & Kay ran to coincide with the project’s launch.

Since the campaign’s start, more than 1,200 tabards have been supplied and the response from children, trainers and parents has been overwhelmingly positive. News of the project has even reached a Southern Law firm who have been in touch with us regarding setting up a similar project in Surrey.

The tabards were given their first road test in February by Y5/Y6 children at Copmanthorpe Primary school (pictured below). More recently, Scarcroft Primary School (pictured below with Councillor Ann Reid, CYC Trainers and David Hyams and Rachel Alexander-Hill from Ware & Kay), children were the first group to receive training following the turning back of the clocks.

Meanwhile, Shaun Wilkinson, Road Safety Training Co-ordinator comments “The Council is committed to getting more children cycling safely. We hope that parents will encourage their children to make use of the high visibility tabards. The message is simple – be safe, be seen.”