Olympic gold medallist, Joanna Rowsell Shand, is calling on schools up and down the country to encourage children to get on their bikes and scooters this Spring by signing up to the Big Pedal.

More than 1,280 schools, with more than 400,000 pupils, across the UK have so far signed up to the annual inter-school competition which will take place between April 18 and 29. Run by charity Sustrans and funded by the BikeHub, the Big Pedal sees schools compete to see who can record the greatest number of pupils, staff and parents cycling and scooting to school.

Now Joanna Rowsell Shand is urging more schools to sign up to the competition: ’Cycling is a great way to keep fit and healthy and the Big Pedal is a fantastic way to start commuting by bike.’

Schools from up and down the UK have signed up, from as far south as Penzance and as far north as the Shetland Islands.

To get involved, visit the Sustrans website www.sustrans.org.uk/bigpedal