Kristina Murrin Interview
Much harder! I generally find things where you have to rely on yourself tough but do-able. You just have to push yourself. It's much harder when you have to try and persuade others; you can't make them do it, you just hope you can inspire them enough to give it a go.
What advice would you give to people who regularly use their cars for short journeys?
Just try a bike once. I never thought I'd be a regular cyclist but once you try it and see how quick it is and how great you feel you get hooked.
People with large families who have to get to work in the morning often have no alternatives but to drive the kids to school. How would you convince them to change their ways for at least one journey a week?
I know how hard mornings are – trying to get myself and my three kids out the door can be a nightmare. So you go for the easy option and jump in the car. Generally though, most people have some other means of transport available for their trip to work. I'm not asking them to abandon the car everyday, but once a week make the effort to walk, cycle or go by public transport. My kids love the exercise they get by going on bikes and and I'm much less stressed.
The big surprise for me was who actually changed their behaviour. In Boston everyone was negative about the notorious Fenside estate. Everyone said they would be impossible to change and probably wouldn't even talk to me. Yet they were the only people in that town to really make a huge effort and get behind the campaign. Success comes from odd places sometimes.
What's next? Are there plans to extend this initiative nationally?
The government is now really getting behind the idea of people cycling more and is beginning to promote schemes to help. I'd love to see a national scheme. The programmes showed me that whilst not everyone is ready to change, lots of people are. They can see that going on as we are makes no sense. We're polluting the country, wasting money and getting fat!
What advice would you give to someone who's inspired by the programmes to start a similar campaign?
Please do. Start small in your town or community and just give it a go. Once people try it, a proportion of them will really enjoy it and keep going.
What are the main lessons you've learnt?
If you make it easy for people and explain the logic, most people will give something new a go. But you have to hit them at the right time. If they are not ready then no matter how much you push or encourage they wont shift.
The biggest lesson of all though was to start young. Kids have a wonderful basic logic – they see when things don't make sense and really care about their world. You can't always change the habits of us oldies but you can really inspire and direct the next generation.
