Dame Sarah Storey to chair debate at School Streets North

Dame Sarah Storey is to chair the opening session of the School Streets North conference, taking place in Manchester on 1 May. Greater Manchester’s Active Travel Commissioner will discuss School Streets with a special panel comprising pupils, teachers, politicians, council officers and campaigners. 

Storey, Britain's most successful Paralympian, will lead a session on the importance of collaboration in setting up and enhancing School Streets.

She said: “I'm delighted to be joining the School Streets North Conference to provide my perspective as Greater Manchester’s Active Travel Commissioner on this important topic, and share more on the work being done in the region.

‘’Making it safer for children to walk wheel and cycle to school is one of our top priorities here in GM, which is why we are pressing on with plans to deliver 100 School Streets by 2028 in partnership with the region’s 10 local authorities.

“School Streets are a really important and successful intervention - especially for primary schools. And it’s good to see the success of London - where there are now more than 600 schemes - starting to be replicated more across the UK.

“The challenge of transforming how children travel to school - increasing walking and addressing the low and stagnant cycling rates - is broader than one intervention. I look forward to hearing the discussions about tackling this wider challenge over the course of the day.’’

Dame Sarah Storey has worked as a policy advocate for British Cycling, with a particular focus on promoting road safety and access to cycling as transport for women and those with disabilities.

In 2019 she was appointed as Active Travel Commissioner for South Yorkshire, a role she held until May 2022 when she moved to Greater Manchester to become the region’s second Active Travel Commissioner, taking over from Chris Boardman CBE, who is National Active Travel Commissioner.

Dame Sarah Storey’s 19 Paralympic gold medals make her the most successful British Paralympian of all time. She has won 30 Paralympic medals at eight games.

She began her Paralympic career as a swimmer, competing in four games - Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 - picking up a total of five gold, eight silver and three bronze medals, before switching to cycling.

School Streets North