Hi all

Having recently lost my job I was considering getting trained as a Bikeability instructor. Haas anyone got any experience of this who can give me a bit of background?

Thanks

Andy

What do you want to know about it?

The amount of work available will really depend on where you are and there’s a downward pressure on pay, so don’t expect to get rich.

On the other hand, working with kids is quite good fun as they’re mostly around 10 so they’ve got some character without yet being grumpy teenagers. It’s amazing how quickly some of them can learn, and really satisfying to see their progress. It’s also nice to be working outside and playing with bikes (you’ll find out how quickly you can fix a dozen cheap kids bikes at the start of every course). It’s also great to be doing a job where passers-by will stop and tell you what a good thing it is that you’re doing.

Some parts of the standard are open to interpretation. I know of one company that teaches normal road position as 2m from the kerb, but I prefer a less aggressive 1m. So, it is worth picking where you throw in your lot (or just going independent).

Just done the training few weeks ago, paid for by the (Doncaster)local council. Training was delivered by BikeRight from Manchester, very high quality. Course is four full days, part classroom, part playground and out on quiet roads and is mostly geared at teaching schoolkids up to level 2 but in theory covers principles of level 3 too. Most of the funding is going into primaries via local authority depts, to deliver up to level 2 so that’s where the courses aim for. Once you’ve done your course you are provisionally qualified to teach, then you get a post course assessment to formalise your qualification. Our local council offered the training free on the basis that they would then employ us to deliver the training, but this hasn’t materialised as yet, so I’m looking to set up as a one man band. For this I’ll need to get my post course assessment done (I have a tame school and guide group to practice on, unpaid), and get some third party/indemnity insurance (CTC do some at about £50pa). A first aid qualification is useful too, so that’s my next priority. If you want to swot up before going on a course, the main principles are in line with the book Cyclecraft by John Franklin, and all the course criteria etc are up there on the Bikeability website.

Thanks for the info guys. Once you’ve trained up is it a case of contacting local schools to see whether they are interested in taking up training? When does the training usually take place – during or after school hours? I’m not after making a fortune out of this but I’d need to know roughly what you can expect so I can work out whether I can afford to do it on the long term whilst maintaining mortgage payments etc.

There are two different ways of being paid, per hour or per trainee. I work for Cycle Exeter on a per hour basis and for Torbay Council on a per trainee basis. Rates will vary amongst training providers and some may even expect you to source the work yourself. Most training occurs during school time. IME, it’s too much to expect kids to do a full day at school and then concentrate for a further 2 hours afterwards.
Expect to be largely dicked around by the training providers who seem to exploit the fact that most people really want to do the job and don’t expect to make any kind of living out of it. 12 months down the line and I am totally disillusioned with the whole thing. The job is great, having to deal with the idiots at County Hall is extremely frustrating.

im thinking of doing this also