Alison Gillespie, Service Manager, Raigmore.
As a mum, Alison’s morning routine involves dropping her children off at school and then making her way to Raigmore. In the car, by the time she arrived there would be no parking spaces left so she’d have to drive further to find a spaceelsewhere and walk back. On a bad day it could take up to half an hour, a stressful start to work.
Alison says: “I live a mile and a half from the hospital, up a bighill. On the ebike my commute takes me under 10 minutes, and the power assist on the way home is lovely! I only need to charge the battery once a week and it costs pennies.
I didn’t really know much about ebikes before I heard about them through the Active Travel Project.
The staff cycle to work scheme made a huge difference to the affordability of the ebike – I saved tax and spread the payments over 12 months at £40 per month. If it’s icy, I’ll take the bus but usually I’m on my ebike.
The best thing about commuting by ebike is that it’s faster than driving and I park right by the office door every morning!”
The Active Travel Engagement Project is a partnership betweenNHS Highland and Sustrans which supports staff to be more active for everyday journeys.
