The Motor Cycle Industry Association (MCI) is today promoting new Parliamentary activity to gain support for the range of 'Wheels To Work' projects in the UK.

The MCI is currently lobbying for Government to provide support for national and regional schemes,which are seeking routes to public and private sector funding. MCI is also calling for the creation of a National Coordinator's post to develop the valuable scheme Wheels to Work, which can work with local programmes to help them secure the support that they need.

Stephen Pound MP has, this week, tabled the Parliamentary 'Early Day Motion; an MPs petition calling on Government to support Wheels To Work. The MCI would urge everyone who supports Wheels to Work to ask their MP to sign the EDM.

'Wheels to Work' is a term used to describe schemes which provide transport to individuals who are unable to access training, employment or education, due to a lack of suitable public or private transport. Solutions offered can include loan of scooters, mopeds, power assisted bikes or bicycles and in some cases assistance with meeting car running costs.

Given the proposed level of public expenditure cutbacks both nationally and locally, it is more important than ever for Wheels to Work to be offered support by Government. This is because the investment involved will be more than returned by young people being in work and contributing to the economy, rather than sitting idle and claiming benefits.

There are now over 40 national schemes across the UK and it is possible to find the local schemes by searching on the website which features a regionalized map www.wheels2work.co.uk/nationalschemes

Wheels to Work or Wheels to Learning schemes (W2W) can be particularly important for people living in isolated rural communities where public transport is inadequate or only available during business hours. It is widely accepted that a lack of viable transport can have a negative effect on opportunities for training, education and employment, particularly for young people and those living in rural areas.

Individuals who have taken part in Wheels to Work have commented on how empowering the scheme has been, how it has opened doors that would have previously been closed and how training has enhanced their career prospects.

Steve Kenward CEO for the MCI commented, " Motorcycles and scooters are a convenient and practical form of transport that can help to reduce social exclusion for many groups of people including young people and especially those that live in areas where there is limited public transport.

"Wheels to Work is an incredible scheme that is enabling young people to access employment and college and also introducing them to the fun and freedom of a powered two-wheeler for a very reasonable cost. We call on Government to realise that Wheels to Work is an investment which can bring immediate returns and should form a part of any strategy which aims to reduce welfare and benefit dependency.

Batmobile, the new Judge Dredd vehicle, Del-boys Reliant Robin and Shaun the Sheep's Land Rover are just some of the original ‘Star Cars’ on display at the Heritage Motor Centre. Star Cars, which takes place from Saturday 24 July – Sunday 5 September from 10am - 5pm, is a special exhibition featuring a whole host of famous cars from TV and films.

This exciting new exhibition will take visitors around legendary vehicles such as Batman's & Robins Batcycle, James Bonds Aston Martin Vanquish from ‘Die Another Day’, Lara Crofts Land Rover Defender from ‘Tomb Raider’, James Bonds Aston Martin DBS from ‘Quantum of Solace’, the PGO Cevennes bought by Rosie Webster in ‘Coronation Street’ and Dr Who's 'Bessie' a Siva Ford tourer built for the 3^rd Doctor Who.

Others Star Cars include Lady Penelope's FAB1, Truly Scrumptious Humber 8hp from ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’, the Mini Cooper from the 2003‘Italian Job’, a 1908 Austin Grand prix car from ‘The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes’, Noddy's Car and Yabba-Dabba-Doo, the Flintstones family car and Fred's sports car.

Running alongside the exhibition will be a number of children's activities themed around Star Car. Daily activities include a Star Car quiz and Star Car colouring competition which all the family can enjoy. 

Every Thursday a ‘Star Car Activity Day’ will take place in the Education Room featuring a number of special Star Car themed craft activities.  Offered free of charge, children can make their own Hollywood star door plaque, decorate their own Land Rover or make their own Timmy and Shaun the Sheep - just some of the crafts on offer! There will even be some special children's tours led by the Heritage Motor Centre's very own Batman! 

In addition to the museum, home to the world's largest historic collection of British cars, visitors can enjoy outdoor activities including Go Karts, Miniature Roadway and the 4x4 Experience. Sessions run daily, weather permitting, from 11am – 4:00pm and are open to non-museum visitors. Stop Start - learner driving experiences for 15+ years in dual controlled vehicles are a great way for teenagers to get behind the wheel. The 1 hour sessions cost £30 and include entrance to the museum for the driver. Sessions take place every Thursday and pre-booking is essential.

Stephen Laing, Museum Curator for the Heritage Motor Centre stated “Our special Star Cars summer exhibition features a fantastic and unique collection of famous cars that visitors can walk around and admire. You would never usually find so many legendary cars together under one roof! Along with Star Cars, children’s quizzes & competitions plus our range of outdoor activities, the Heritage Motor Centre has something for everyone to enjoy this summer”. 

Visitors can take advantage of the museums ‘Gift Aid' scheme bychoosing to Gift Aid their entry on arrival and receive a 12 months entry ticket at no extra cost. Visitors can then return for a whole year - for free! (terms & conditions apply). Museum entry is: Adult £9, Concession £8, Child (5-16), £7 Family, £28 (2 adults and up to 3 children). Prices per ride for the Go-Karts are £6.00 for adults, £4.00 for children and concessions. Rides for the Miniature Roadway cost £3.00.

Star Cars is just one of many exciting and unique motoring events held at The Heritage Motor Centre in 2010. To find out more information please visit the website at www.heritage-motor-centre.co.uk

With a ruling in the High Court today that Westminster City Council’s controversial scheme for motorcycle parking charges is legal, the 80,000 strong British Motorcyclists Federation warns that this could signal the end of the customary free parking enjoyed by motorcyclists across the UK

The judgment in effect said that Westminster Council did not need to make any special justification for bringing in charges for motorcycle parking as motorcycles  could be treated in the same way as cars. 

In his judgement, Lord Justice Pitchfordsaid charges had been justified and that “The Council has been assiduous in the performance of its responsibility to consult specifically upon the motorcycle parking and charging scheme. Far from ignoring the responses received, appropriate concessions have been made and the scheme amended.” He then went on to say, “The judgment which objections have failed to undermine, is that the volume of traffic using the roads in the City of Westminster requires management by the selective introduction of charging for on-street parking contemporaneously with the provision of free off-street parking.”

A strong supporter of the ‘No To Bike Parking Tax’ (NTBPT) campaign from its inception, the bmf’s Government Relations Executive Chris Hodder, said: “Obviously we are disappointed but while this ruling means that Westminster have the technical authority to charge motorcyclists, they could find that this is a pyrrhic victory as protesters have vowed to fight on until Westminster are forced to back down by public demand. It should also be borne in mind that it’s actually costing Westminster Council £430,000 a year all-in to run the scheme, so other local authorities thinking this is a green light for similar schemes should be extremely cautious.”

Figures released by Duke Marketing, which operates iomtt.com on behalf of the Isle of Man Government, show visits to the site and its TT Live! service increased to 939,381, up 42% compared with the 2009 TT.

TT Live!, which offered fans the chance to listen to live commentary on the internet while watching sector times and speeds as they happened, attracted 115,739 visits between May 29th and June 13th, an increase of 272% on the 2009 figures. The service, which was free during the 2010 TT, had an average of more than 30,000 users during the races, peaking at 32,399 during the PokerStars Superbike TT.

While the number of visits makes positive reading, it is the numbers of unique users – or different people - which truly shows the rapidly growing popularity of the TT website. The figures for ‘unique users’ show how many individuals came to iomtt.com during the TT, and, in 2010, the number of unique users was 342,944 people, up by 34%.

During the two weeks of the TT, the site had more than 5 million page impressions and data also shows that people were visiting more pages and spending longer compared with previous years on the site. During the festival, TT Live! was used by a total of 69,677 different people.

The UK and Isle of Man accounted for the highest number of the visits, but the top 10 also included the US, Australia and Spain and more than half the visits from America were new visitors to the site.

Duke Managing Director Peter Duke, whose company signed a new multi-year contract to continue running iomtt.com in 2010, said:

“The figures for iomtt.com and TT Live! in 2010 are further evidence of the growing popularity of the Isle of Man TT. To attract almost 1 million visits to the site from nearly 350,000 different people exceeded our highest expectations, and we are very pleased that the website, and especially TT Live!, is contributing so much to the global awareness and popularity of the TT.”

“We redesigned the website ahead of the 2010 TT to incorporate a new look, video content and other improved features. We also provided online commentary and live timings free of charge, and expanded our social networking presence with a dedicated Facebook page and Twitter account, both of which were regularly updated with news from the course and photos through each race day.”

“This commitment from the team at Duke has brought extremely positive feedback from site visitors from all over the world. In just a handful of weeks, our Facebook group has built up more than 16,000 fans and the 34% increase in people using iomtt.com speaks for itself.”

Mr Duke added:

“The Isle of Man TT is a truly international event, and the use of iomtt.com and TT Live! clearly shows that. During the 2010 TT we had visitors from 179 countries and territories – including the Arctic!”
“This is only the first year of our new contract, and the improvements made so far have brought excellent results. We will be building on the 2010 TT to deliver even more for the hundreds of thousands of TT fans, new and old, all over the world through iomtt.com.”

Isle of Man Tourism Political Member Geoff Corkish said:

“These figures are very encouraging and show that the programmes that we have put in place are increasing the global audience and commercial value of the TT. This will provide tangible benefits not only to the event itself but also the Isle of Man as a whole.”