Community fun day planned for Cranbrook

A community fun day will be held in Cranbrook on Saturday 11 March.

Devon County Council, Action East Devon and Cranbrook Town Council are planning the event to inspire as many people as possible to walk, cycle or take the bus or train to travel to work or school.

The family-friendly event will be held in Hayes Square from 10:30am-4pm and will feature a range of activities including guided cycle rides and free bike hire, Active Mums cycle rides, cycle skills sessions with local cycle group Adventurecize, and Rollapaluza will bring its static bike sprint races to Devon for the first time.

Entertainment will also be provided by Big Top Mania cycle circus and world class mountain bike trials rider Andrei Burton.

Devon County Council’s Travel Devon team will be on hand to provide information and advice about active travel and public transport in and around Devon, and there will be the opportunity to meet the Co-Cars team and take part in Active Devon’s walking challenge, the Big Devon March.

Councillor Stuart Hughes, Devon County Council Cabinet Member with responsibility for cycling, said: “The Discover Cranbrook Long Orchard Trail launched earlier this year to encourage more people to walk and cycle, and this community fun day will continue to build on that. We want families to come along and hopefully be inspired to be more active. This is gearing up to be a terrific community event which will enable people to find out more about sustainable travel, and consider walking and cycling more often.”

Councillor Kevin Blakey, Chairman of Cranbrook Town Council, said: “We are really delighted to be involved with the organisation of this event which ties in very well with Cranbrook as a Healthy New Town. Encouraging our residents to live healthy, sustainable lives is very high on our agenda and we look forward to being part of the community fun day which promises to be an exciting and inspiring event for all the family.”

Keith Johnson, of Action East Devon, said: “This will be a great fun day bringing unusual activities into the town, but it is the involvement from the start by many of the town’s clubs and groups that will make this a true community fun day. It’s just one of the things that makes Cranbrook different and special.”

A number of community groups will be taking part on the day, including Cranbrook Rotary Club, Brownies, National Trust, and Sustrans, and there will also be performances of dance, local choirs and a Taekwondo display.