A road safety instructor from the East Riding has been honoured with a national lifetime achievement award.
Julie Turner, 67, has worked as a road safety instructor at East Riding of Yorkshire Council for 25 years - and as a volunteer for three years before that - and during that time she has helped to teach more than 15,000 children and adults across the area how to ride bikes safely.
She has been presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award (David Dansky Award) from the Bikeability Trust - the Department for Transport's flagship national cycle training programme for school children in England.
Julie, who lives in Driffield, is due to retire from her role in March 2027 at the age of 68.
She works as part of the council's road safety team which goes into schools across the East Riding to work with pupils, running Bikeability training courses for young cyclists – a modern version of the traditional cycling proficiency training – as well as teaching safety for scooter riders and pedestrians
During school holidays, she also volunteers to assist with road safety events, including a successful project teaching local refugees how to cycle.
Outside of work, Julie is a British Cycling volunteer. She organises regular Breeze rides to encourage and empower female cyclists, guided rides open to all people, and is an accredited marshal for British Cycling and a ‘Walk Wheel Cycle Trust’ volunteer.
She leads three bike rides for women in the East Riding every week, and a fortnightly session at a local cycle track to encourage people to cycle in a traffic free area.
As of May, this year, the distance Julie covered on her led rides was 24,901 miles - or the same as travelling once around the world!
Julie was also involved in a 2023 Immersive Reality pilot scheme with Brunel University and Active Travel England, providing on-road research statistics and analysis information for the study.
Julie said: "Cycling has shaped such a huge part of my life, and I feel incredibly fortunate that it has become both my career and my main form of volunteering.
“For the past 28 years, I’ve supported children and adults across East Yorkshire to cycle safely, confidently and independently through cycling proficiency, Bikeability and community rides.
"What I’m proudest of is helping people who never thought cycling was 'for them'. Watching confidence grow, friendships form and people discover what they’re capable of is incredibly rewarding.
"Cycling has given me friendship, purpose, adventure and a real connection to my community, and even when I retire, I know I’ll continue helping others experience the joy, freedom, health and well-being that cycling brings for as long as I can."
Councillor Paul West, the council's cabinet member for environment and transport, said: "Congratulations to Julie. She is an extremely worthy winner of this award and we are lucky to have her on our road safety team.
"She has dedicated her life to cycling and has been responsible for teaching thousands of people, mainly primary school children, how to ride their bikes safely on our roads.
"Julie has undoubtedly increased the numbers of riders in the East Riding and couldn't have done more to promote the positives of cycling. She is a true inspiration."
BBC journalist and handcycling enthusiast Ellis Palmer announced the award for the Bikeability Trust, saying: “Julie has dedicated 28 years to supporting cycling in the East Yorkshire including 25 years delivering Bikeability and cycle training to children and adults alike.
“Across her career, Julie’s inspired and trained more than 15,000 riders, while mentoring instructors and championing inclusive cycling.
"Julie, thank you for your decades of dedication and passion and service to cycling."
