Rushden Lakes wins another national award for green travel initiatives

Rushden Lakes has once again won a national award - Modeshift STARS Silver - in recognition of its green travel plan and achievements promoting active, more sustainable journeys for staff and visitors.

Free cycle repairs, a ‘Let’s Go Green’ celebration event, lakeside walks, staff e-scooting to work and an increase in coach trips are just a few of the activities which have enabled and encouraged an increase in greener journeys to Rushden Lakes over the past year.

This has resulted in the site winning the Modeshift STARS (Sustainable Travel Accredited and Recognised) Silver award in recognition of their efforts and in the footsteps of their Bronze award win in 2022.

The centre management team at Rushden Lakes has joined forces with local social enterprise Brightwayz over the past two years to develop and implement a green travel plan.

This covers a range of active and sustainable travel such as cycling, walking, wheeling (travelling by mobility scooter), scooting and coming by public transport, and enables more people to travel in these ways and leave the car at home.

Brightwayz Projects and Partnerships director, Alison Holland, who supports the scheme said: “It’s wonderful to work with such a keen team of people who really want to see change and who work so hard to achieve that.

"Many of the stores are really on board with this too; promoting greener ways to get to Rushden Lakes links in with their own sustainability goals and also makes it easier to attract staff and customers.”

Bosses believe the work is having a real impact.

Since the Rushden Lakes team started working on the travel plan with Brightwayz there has been nearly an 18 per cent decrease in the total number of

staff travelling to work by car on their own.

This is due to an increase in bus use as well as take up of active choices such as walking, scooting and cycling.

Central to the project are the staff and visitor surveys, which include questions about what is needed to make it easier for them to travel in greener ways.

Nearly 700 visitors responded to the travel survey promoted on the Rushden Lakes Facebook page last autumn.

The ideas are used to help develop the next initiatives, as it is an ongoing process.

Centre manager Donna French said: “We’re really proud to have achieved this level of recognition, and we want to do even more.

"Sustainable travel is a key focus for us and our owners, The Crown Estate, who have a commitment to sustainability and achieving net zero by 2030.

"Rushden Lakes is a popular destination with lots of visitors and to ensure everyone has the best experience, we are always looking for opportunities that support our sustainable initiatives and add to the visitor experience.”

Find out more about the Rushden Lakes green travel plan at: www.rushdenlakes.com/whats_on/rushden-lakes-active-travel-plan.

Modeshift STARS (Sustainable Travel Accredited and Recognised) is the accreditation scheme and framework used to recognise excellence in the promotion of active and sustainable travel.

The scheme is backed by the Department for Transport and managed by Modeshift.