You don't have to live in the deepest countryside to need a car!

MrsE_2

tooldle wrote: »

I used to work for the NHS. They do offer interest free loans to allow staff to purchase a bike. This is not a local trust scheme, but offered to all NHS workers. USually mentioned at induction, the payments are collected back through payroll.

My DD works for the NHS.

She is pregnant & works an easy 17 mile round trip from her office.

Its not always suitable.....

[Deleted User]

KxMx wrote: »

That's a good point MrsE but Mum had to look for work only where she could get to by bus and was successful after 2 years.

Not all of us are lucky enough to be able to seek work without area restrictions!

The problem near me would be that in order to claim for unemployment benefit then you would need a car to sign on. The nearest job centre near me is 20 miles away and the nearest public transport 7.5 miles away.

So even if I was trying to find a job near me to which I could walk or cycle I would still need a car to sign on whilst looking for work. I have never been unemployed and I was amazed when I found out that people had to travel that far to the nearest centre to sign on. Even people living in my nearest local market town have to travel into the big town and use their unemployment money to get there by car or bus in order to sign on.

onlyroz

MrsE wrote: »

My DD works for the NHS.

She is pregnant & works an easy 17 mile round trip from her office.

Its not always suitable.....

Nobody was suggesting that cycling was a suitable option for everyone - but if you're healthy and have less than 6 miles to travel on a safe route then I'd consider it to be an excellent option - it makes sense on financial, environmental and health grounds.

ceridwen

Hmmm...I thought I had read somewheres recently that people whose nearest Jobcentre is too far away to sign on at have got some sort of dispensation to sign on by post??? I may be wrong on that - but I think it would be worth checking out whether this is the case. If it is - then I imagine it wouldnt exactly be publicised by the Jobcentre - so it may take some "digging" to find out if there IS such a facility.

Kimberley82

i couldnt do my job with out a car, and its not like there are loads of jobs around so i cant change, plus i love my job

tooldle

My comments about the interest free loan in the NHS, were in response to the poster who claimed that the NHS is so rife with cuts that bike schemes are not available.

Personally I feel it best to find a balance. I walk to work, walk to town and bus back with shopping and very very occasionally use my vehicle. Congestion will not go away with increasing reliance on cars for every journey. Where theres a will, theres a way.

Kimberley82

tooldle wrote: »

My comments about the interest free loan in the NHS, were in response to the poster who claimed that the NHS is so rife with cuts that bike schemes are not available.

The problem with riding bikes to work is if you work in an environment where you have to look very groomed, you cant always turn up looking windswept, with flat hair from your helmet and all sweaty.

tooldle

In my experience, employers who offer bike schemes also have shower facilities in place for the cyclist. I know that my employer does as the shower is just outside my office! I would go further and say out of all the jobs I have had, only one employes did not provide showers (it was a small company with 10 staff).
Often these options are there, it's just that they are not well known or perhaps highly visible to people.

onlyroz

Kimberley82 wrote: »

The problem with riding bikes to work is if you work in an environment where you have to look very groomed, you cant always turn up looking windswept, with flat hair from your helmet and all sweaty.

Tell that to the thousands of smartly-dressed executives you see cycling on London's streets every day. Even the new "Boris Bikes" have a slot to put in your briefcase.

nickyhutch

tooldle wrote: »

In my experience, employers who offer bike schemes also have shower facilities in place for the cyclist. I know that my employer does as the shower is just outside my office! I would go further and say out of all the jobs I have had, only one employes did not provide showers (it was a small company with 10 staff).
Often these options are there, it's just that they are not well known or perhaps highly visible to people.

I work for the NHS. My building is falling down (literally) around our ears. We have two toilets and one wash hand basin (for around 30 staff), which is smaller than the ones in school toilets. Showers? Not a chance. A huge great scheme to build lots of super-healthcentres was stared up here a few years ago - we have 2 out of (I think) 33 promised and the funding's been withdrawn now. There is a shower in one of those new buildings, in which probably 200 people work. We've been told our building isn't even on the list for renovations.

In an ideal world - yes, bikes, showers - brilliant. It's far from ideal, though.