More than 100 cyclists dressed as Santa made their way across the city in order to deliver Christmas presents for children at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.
The Santa Bike Ride is an annual event organised by a number of partners including; Merseyside Police, this year’s event also supported The 20 Effect, Liverpool’s speed reduction campaign.
The 20 Effect is a campaign run by Liverpool City Council in partnership with Merseyside Police and the Fire Service, created to influence behaviour change around proposed reduced speed limits on residential roads.
There were two starting points for the Bike Ride, with the first group departing from the Pier Head before converging with the other group which departed from Archbishop Beck School on the final stretch; The Santa’s then made their way to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital together. The cyclists took part in the ride with 20mph roundels attached to their backs to promote The 20 Effect as the route went through many areas that have recently become 20mph.
Liverpool City Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport and Climate Change Councillor Tim Moore said; “This was a seasonal way of highlighting this hugely important campaign as well as providing some Christmas cheer for the children at Alder Hey.
“By introducing 20mph areas across the city, we aim to reduce the number of accidents and save hundreds of lives, which would be the perfect Christmas present for everyone in Liverpool.”
Police Constable Les Harvey, Merseyside Police’s Roads Policing Department said;”Constable Bond and I started the Santa Bike Ride six years ago with 12 riders. The intention was to make Christmas a little bit better for the children in hospital. We also felt that we should give something back rather than just receive at Christmas.
It has since grown into the fantastic event it has now become because of other likeminded people and organisations. We intend to carry on doing this event for the foreseeable future and hope to get bigger each year, who knows what the future entails!”