Kilburn policing team attend travel conference

The team were presented with the ‘Contribution to Sustainable Travel Award – Team 2014’ during a national awards ceremony that was held in November last year.

Following this, PC Neil Hopwell and PCSO John Midgley were invited to speak at the School Travel Conference in London to highlight the work that they achieved alongside Derbyshire County Council and the Travel Smart initiative.

Examples of their work include a Denby cycle to school event to target road safety issues around schools, and numerous Community Speed Watch checks to encourage motorists to think carefully about their speed.

PC Neil Hopwell from the Kilburn Safer Neighbourhood Team said: “It was a great privilege to be invited to speak at the conference and represent Derbyshire Constabulary at a national event.

“We were able to speak with local authorities to share with them the work that we achieved alongside our partners and the difference that this can make in the local community.

“All in all it was a fantastic day that seemed to be really well received by all those attending. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to all the other speakers to see how, by making a small change; we can make a big difference to our neighbourhoods.”

Derbyshire County Council senior transport officer, Rob Bounds, said: “Our Travel Smart initiative aims to help reduce traffic congestion around schools by promoting the benefits of walking, cycling and scooting to school.

“Our partnership work with Kilburn SNT demonstrates the positive impact that police officers can have on local schools and the community by actively engaging with parents and children to promote active, safe and environmentally friendly ways to travel to school.

“It was great to be able to share this experience at a national level and we hope we can carry on this work at Kilburn as well as extending it further by working with other Safer Neighbourhood teams.”

To find out more or to speak to the Kilburn Safer Neighbourhood Team, call 101 and follow them on Twitter: @KilburnSNT