This challenge involves a selection of large MK companies in a gentle competition to achieve the highest use of cycling and other sustainable transport modes over 50 days from 1st September as recorded on MK Council’s BetterPoints app. The winners will receive Mayor’s Awards and prizes (see below) at the Mayor’s Cycling & Sustainable Travel Awards Breakfast hosted by Network Rail on 10th November – click here for details. The overall winner of the Workplace Challenge is Gemini Rail Services (pictured below).
Results from Better Points app at 21.10.22:
Cycling only
Businesses | No. of MK employers | Champion | No. cycle activities | Ave. cycle activities per employee | No. miles cycled | Ave. cycle miles per employee | Amount C02 avoided (kg) |
ICAEW | 10 | Liz Tribe | 102 | 10.20 | 595 | 59.50 | 100 |
Gemini Rail Services UK | 127 | David Smith | 285 | 2.24 | 3793 | 29.87 | 629 |
World Vision | 280 | Emily Willis | 147 | 0.53 | 1580 | 5.64 | 267 |
The Open University | 1450 | Carmel Collins | 208 | 0.14 | 1074 | 0.74 | 182 |
John Lewis Store | 720 | Elaine Wales | 56 | 0.08 | 113 | 0.16 | 18 |
MK Council | 2000 | Raeesa Chowdhury | 136 | 0.07 | 649 | 0.32 | 108 |
MK College | 500 | Ali Murphy | 26 | 0.05 | 155 | 0.31 | 26 |
Nissan Technical Centre Europe | 1000 | Stuart Page | 33 | 0.03 | 272 | 0.27 | 44 |
Santander | 3000 | Siobhan Beddow | 47 | 0.02 | 671 | 0.22 | 112 |
Network Rail | 4500 | Jo Lewington | 55 | 0.01 | 487 | 0.11 | 82 |
Volkswagen Group | 1000 | Andrew Stanley | 2 | 0.00 | 2 | 0.00 | 0 |
1,097 | 0.67 | 9,391 | 4.86 | 1,568 |
All sustainable travel activities (i.e. walking, scooting, bus and train, not just cycling)
Businesses | No. of MK employers | Champion | No. activities | Ave. activities per employee | No. miles | Ave. miles per employee | Amount C02 avoided (kg) |
ICAEW | 10 | Liz Tribe | 352 | 35.20 | 1719 | 171.90 | 276 |
Gemini Rail Services UK | 127 | David Smith | 1005 | 7.91 | 5455 | 42.95 | 889 |
World Vision | 280 | Emily Willis | 347 | 1.24 | 2770 | 9.89 | 432 |
The Open University | 1450 | Carmel Collins | 772 | 0.53 | 2922 | 2.02 | 458 |
MK College | 500 | Ali Murphy | 264 | 0.53 | 1118 | 2.24 | 163 |
MK Council | 2000 | Raeesa Chowdhury | 612 | 0.31 | 1910 | 0.96 | 288 |
John Lewis | 720 | Elaine Wales | 138 | 0.19 | 518 | 0.72 | 61 |
Volkswagen Group | 1000 | Andrew Stanley | 112 | 0.11 | 240 | 0.24 | 40 |
Network Rail | 4500 | Jo Lewington | 407 | 0.09 | 3230 | 0.72 | 392 |
Nissan Technical Centre Europe | 1000 | Stuart Page | 38 | 0.04 | 316 | 0.32 | 51 |
Santander | 3000 | Siobhan Beddow | 71 | 0.02 | 719 | 0.24 | 119 |
Sainsbury’s Argos | 16000 | Stephen Henman | 19 | 0.00 | 289 | 0.02 | 39 |
4,137 | 2.31 | 21,206 | 11.61 | 3,208 |
Awards & Prizes
AWARD | PRIZE |
Top Cycling Company (most cycling activities & miles cycled) | Dr. Bike advice & basic repairs |
Top Cycling Individual (most cycling activities) – 1st place | Cycle helmet |
Top Cycling Individual (most cycling activities) – 2nd place | £50 voucher |
Top Cycling Individual (most cycling activities) – 3rd place | T-shirt/tote bag |
Winning Walker (most walking activities) – 1st place | Bone conducting headphones |
Winning Walker (most walking activities) – 2nd place | T-shirt/tote bag |
C02 Saver (most CO2 saved from walking and sustainable journey modes) – 1st place | £50 voucher |
C02 Saver (most CO2 saved from walking and sustainable journey modes) – 2nd place | T-shirt/tote bag |
Most Sustainable Traveler (most sustainable bus journeys – bus, train, MK connect, eScooter, Car Club Journey) – 1st place | £50 voucher |
Most Sustainable Traveler (most sustainable bus journeys – bus, train, MK connect, eScooter, Car Club Journey) – 2nd place | T-shirt/tote bag |
Top BetterPoints Company (most engagements per person) | £200 to give to charity |
Potential Business Cycling Initiatives at Nov 2022
Code | Initiative name | Example | Examples of evidence |
BC1 | Dr Bike/cycle maintenance sessions | Qualified or experienced bike mechanic visits company site to perform safety checks/minor repairs to staff bikes. | Photos; publicity material |
BC2 | Cycle parking installed | Cyclepods, Minipods, Sheffield stands or bike shelters installed. | Photos of the cycle parking |
BC3 | Bikers Breakfast | Company holds a breakfast for staff who cycle to work. | Photos, register, publicity material |
BC4 | Cycle competitions/ business cycle challenge | Inter-company cycling events – see Cycling CitizensMK calendar of events | Photos; publicity material |
BC5 | Bike week | School participates in National Bike Week or Sustrans Bike to School Week | Photos |
BC6 | Pool bike system in place | Company loans out or hires bikes for staff to use for the journey to and from work. | Loan agreement, photos |
BC7 | Cycle purchase scheme for staff | Company takes part in Cycle to Work Scheme. Schemes include Cyclescheme, Bike2Work, Bicycle Benefits (On Your Bike), Cycleplus, NHS Bikes for Work. | Confirmation documents/emails from the scheme provider |
BC8 | Bicycle Security Marking | Police bike marking scheme. Datatags, ImmobiTags or similar electronic tagging scheme. Also use for scooter security marking | Publicity material; photos of event |
BC9 | Cycle rides/excursions | Using cycling as a form of transport to get you from A to B, e.g. shopping. Organised cycle tours such as Coast2Coast or Lands End to John O’Groats | Photos, risk assessments, consent forms |
BC10 | Bling Your Bike Day | Fancy dress event for bikes. It may be a ride, event or competition | Photos |
BC** | Other cycling initiative | Any cycling action not covered elsewhere. Use the Action Title to name the initiative | Photos; letters; newsletters; webpages; publicity material as appropriate for the initiative |
Any questions, please contact Tom Bulman, cyclingmk@citizensuk.org, tel 07962 838685.
How to sign up for the 50 Day Challenge
- Sign up to BetterPoints
- Visit the left-hand menu
- Select ‘Referral Code’
- Use referral code MKWORKPLACES
- Join the 50 day workplace challenge and select your workplace from the Challenges tab to take part.
How do you take part?
📲 When you join the challenge you’ll receive a message to take the ‘Get Started Survey,’ where you willearn 250 BetterPoints and unlock your rewards.
🎯 Track your active and sustainable travel journeys in the BetterPoints app to climb the leaderboard, and earn BetterTickets into the daily prize draws.
Encourage your colleagues to sign up and do the same.
How does the Leaderboard rank the teams?
You will be competing against 20 local workplace teams based on the level of engagement of employees. This is the percentage of the people in your workplace that have signed up and tracked an activity.
What can you win?
The workplace with the highest engagement ranking at the end of the challenge will win the bragging rights and a donation of £200 to a charity of their choice.
🛍 We will also be giving away individual prizes throughout the 50 DAY Challenge – so watch this space!
Daily Prize Draw
Every day we will be giving away pots of BetterPoints. Earn BetterTickets into the daily draw for every journey over half a mile.
Refer your colleagues – Win 10,000 BetterPoints
During the challenge every 10 days we will be giving the person who has referred the most colleagues 10,000 BetterPoints.
Halfway point – Win 25,000 BetterPoints
🏆 The person who has tracked the most journeys by 25th September will win 25,000 BetterPoints.
What other information can you see?
During the challenge you can see how you fare alongside the colleagues in your workplace team with your tracked activities, distance and CO2 saved.
What journeys count?
Any walk, run, cycle, scoot, wheel, bus or train journey over half a mile counts as one activity on the leaderboard.
Why are only 20 organisations involved?
We have decided to pilot the Get Around MK 50 day challenge with 20 organisations in Milton Keynes, as we have previously been working with these organisations.
If you’d like to be considered for future workplace challenges please get in touch via email.
Want to earn BetterPoints and BetterTickets in Milton Keynes?
Make sure you’ve signed up to the Get Around Rewards residents challenge in the Challenges tab too. If you live outside the area but work in Milton Keynes you can join this challenge by adding another referral code GAR2022 to the left-hand menu in the app.