The London Road Safety Council has presented its annual award to Alan Dowling, recognising his support for cyclists in Lewisham during the pandemic, and to the London Borough of Hackney for its Junior Road Safety Officer (JRSO) scheme.
The London Road Safety Award, previously known as the Laurie Bunn Award until it was rebranded in 2016, was first presented in 2003.
The two awards for 2022 were presented at the London Road Safety Council’s AGM on 4 July, by David Showell, CEO of Cycle Confident.
One went to Alan Dowling, road safety and cycling officer for the London Borough of Lewisham.
Alan managed the support for cyclists in Lewisham during Covid-19 pandemic.
This included finding and repairing bikes to lend people free of charge, sourcing spare parts from the local waste and recycling centre. In total, he was able to offer 230 people a loan bike.
To support key workers, Alan carried out 40 socially distanced Dr Bike sessions, repairing 771 bikes for Lewisham residents. He also carried out 891 safety checks/repairs on bikes for children taking part in school courses.
The LRSC says Alan has gone above and beyond the duties of his role and commends him for the support he has given in Lewisham.
The second award was presented to the London Borough of Hackney for its JRSO programme.
The programme, which enrols year five students as a permanent road safety presence in their schools, was able to continue throughout the pandemic.
At a time when road safety officers were unable to personally visit schools, JRSOs were supported in coming up with innovative ways to share their messages despite home learning and being restricted to year and class group bubbles.
They presented remotely, did outdoor presentations and created video assemblies, including four interviews with those considered “road safety heroes” for Road Safety Week 2021, which were shared in school and on YouTube.
They also developed a greater social media presence which allowed their campaigns to reach larger audiences across their communities and engaged with elected officials to share their opinions on the safety of the borough’s streets.
The award was collected by Max Moorcock.
08 July 2022