SUSTRANS chuggers

[johnmac]

Would I be right in thinking that they do not receive any payment for signing up new members?

[gaz]

Must be right, Sustrans doesn't have any members . The last official job advert suggests a simple hourly rate for working to sign up supporters.

[johnmac]

Thanks. And is sustrans funded entirely by charitable donations? Is sustrans budget relatively small, such that only finances an administrative and campaigning function, or does it actually have enough funds to finance cycle path building?

[gaz]

Sustrans Income for 2014/15 was £43,740,000, of which £23,734,000 was spent on creating new infrastructure and maintenance. It sounds like a lot but bear in mind that in 2011 the M4 extension in Glasgow cost £138,400,000 for per mile.

The bulk of Sustrans funding comes from Local Government, Central Government and Lottery Grants. All of that funding will be to deliver specific projects, be that new infrastructure or cycling promotion. Donations from supporters are a small proportion of Sustrans total funding but can be used much more flexibly.

A read of Sustrans annual review will give you a broad idea of how it all works.

[TrekMad]

Sustrans mostly volunteers round my way.

[johnmac]

So it's basically a government quango with charitable status?

(No axe to grind, just trying understand this, apparently strange, organisation)

[gaz]

A government quango would be an oxymoron. Sustrans has been called many things on these boards before now but I think that's a first.

[johnmac]

OK, didn't mean to offend and I know that it was started by volunteers in Bristol, long ago, but isn't it now a vehicle for the spending of government money on cycle infrastructure?

[Si]

OK, didn't mean to offend and I know that it was started by volunteers in Bristol, long ago, but isn't it now a vehicle for the spending of government money on cycle infrastructure?

Only in part. It's changing these days, puts a lot more into other avenues of cycle promotion - if you click on the link that should be in my sig then you'll find the out come of one Sustrans project...which is now a totally stand alone, self sufficient organisation, run by volunteers, happily turning non-cyclists into cyclists.

Lots of similar stuff going on. And also lots of stuff in schools. Infrastructuralists are in the minority at my local Sustrans office.

As for funding, yep, a lot of it comes from govt, however the way that cycling is(n't) funded in this country looks set to change in the near future and Sustrans (along with certain other cycling organisations) are keen to be exploring new opportunities so that they are no longer so dependent on LSTF etc.

[JohnW]

So it's basically a government quango with charitable status?

(No axe to grind, just trying understand this, apparently strange, organisation)

NO.

[gaz]

OK, didn't mean to offend ...

No offence taken, I was just a little bewildered by the suggestion that any organsiation could be a government quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisation

As Si said above Sustrans does a lot more than build infrastructure, down my way they even get involved with promoting the rail network: http://www.kentcrp.org.uk/

[RobC]

What bothers me about the Sustrans chuggers around Hackney is how they imply that the cycle path across London Fields - where they often try to accost me - came about purely because of them! I very much doubt this and I find it quite misleading.

If I'm mistaken and it's an historic Sustrans route then I'd be delighted to be enlightened to that effect.

[JohnW]

What bothers me about the Sustrans chuggers around Hackney..............

Rob - forgive my Northern naivety, but what's a "chugger". In steam days (i.e. in my day) around these parts, it was the slow train that took a fortnight to stop at every station between Low Moor and Hebden Bridge .

[mjr]

Rob - forgive my Northern naivety, but what's a "chugger".

Charity mugger. Please don't address forum posts to one person

[LollyKat]

Why not?