An E-bike Journey, Building Healthy Lives in the South West

Cycling Towards Net Zero: Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

In a groundbreaking collaboration toward a greener and healthier future, VOLT Bikes proudly announces its partnership with Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. As a leading British e-bike manufacturer, we’ve helped a number of Trusts in securing funding and empowered NHS Teams with innovative health initiatives. 

Our e-Bike fleet solutions help promote a more sustainable and accessible solution to commuting. Supporting organisations like the NHS and their commitment to green initiatives. The NHS’ Green Plan, is a bold initiative launched in January 2020 and aims to achieve Net Zero 2040.

Guest Post from Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation 

As one of the largest organisations in the south west, the Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (Royal Devon) has the ability and the duty to help build healthy lives, healthy communities and a healthy environment. Along with the rest of NHS organisations across the UK, we launched our Green Plan. This is an ambitious, evidence-based route map outlining how we will create a more sustainable healthcare service. It states how we are going to achieve our long-term sustainability goals and how we will work towards the NHS’s overall target of achieving net zero by 2040. By having our Green Plan at the heart of what we do, we can drive long-term success and begin to make a real change. We have made significant progress so far, but there is still more we need to do. One of the areas we are now focusing on is travel and transport. 

Implementation

Staff travel accounts for 4% of the NHS’s total carbon footprint, and with over 15,000 staff working across our sites, this adds up. To help reduce this figure, we wanted to launch a new scheme for our staff so they could trial a foldable e-bike as an alternative option for their commute to work. The aim of the trial is to encourage more sustainable travel to our colleagues, and as a result, reduce our carbon footprint. We were able to launch the trial after securing funding from the Royal Devon’s Hospital Charity and South West Greener NHS.

Benefits

During the first three weeks of our one-month free ‘Try B4U Buy’ foldable e-bike trial launch, we received over 100 expressions of interest from colleagues. We’re initially focusing on colleagues who use multiple modes of transport during their commute to work, such as using a train or bus, where the addition of a foldable e-bike would make their journey easier.

Member of staff feedback

“I just want to start by thanking the Trust for giving me the opportunity to trial an e-bike. I have enjoyed my two weeks commuting on the bike and I have certainly not used my car and have even cycled it when it rained. The electric assistance made pedalling a breeze, especially on hilly terrain.”

“Overall, the e-bike is enhancing my mobility and has made my commute more enjoyable and less time-consuming. I will definitely be looking at purchasing one.”

“I can always find somewhere to park my bike, and can then shower at work. It has been really good knowing that I am saving on fuel and parking as well as being better for the planet.”

Conclusion

We are so pleased with how popular the launch of the ‘Try B4U Buy’ trial has been so far, and we hope this will encourage colleagues to consider using an e-bike for their commute. We hope to provide additional e-bikes in the near future so more colleagues can try one for their commute, and we’d like to also open the trial up so teams who work in the community can use an e-bike as part of their role instead of using a car. We’re also aiming to improve the cycling facilities and infrastructure across our sites to encourage more colleagues to give cycling a go.

We hope that this trial will begin to make a real difference and bring us closer to achieving the goals set out in our Green Plan.

You can also find out more in this recent article on Devon Live or download ebike article here:

Download PDF