SWEATY BETTY FOUNDATION BOSS JOINS SOUTH YORKSHIRE’S ACTIVE TRAVEL TEAM

Published 13 June 2023 at 11:30am

South Yorkshire’s Mayor has announced the appointment of Nicola Marshall, leader of the Sweaty Betty Foundation, as the region’s new Active Travel Programme Director.

Working alongside Mayor Oliver Coppard and Active Travel Commissioner, Ed Clancy OBE, Nicola will drive ambitions to make walking, wheeling and cycling the first choice for everyday trips in South Yorkshire and lead on the development of the region’s cycling and walking network.

With over 20 years of experience at organisations including Cycling UK and Save the Children, Nicola has worked across multiple charity and sports sectors to empower individuals, families and communities. Leading the Sweaty Betty Foundation - the corporate charity of the activewear brand, Sweaty Betty – Nicola’s most recent role specifically supported women and girls to get active, and stay active, for life. 

Nicola, said: "I'm incredibly excited about the opportunity to make South Yorkshire the best place to walk and cycle in the UK. I passionately want my toddler to grow up thinking the first choice for every journey is on his feet, a scooter, or a bike. Creating safe places to walk and cycle is a brilliant start, but we also need to actively support people to choose to get on their feet or their bike. 

“I love being active, but I know as a mum with limited time it often feels easier to jump in the car. My job will be about building on the amazing opportunities that are already out there in our region and supporting communities with what can, sometimes, be tricky challenges around choosing active travel. I can't wait to start making it easy and cost effective for thousands more people to cycle and walk more every day, helping make South Yorkshire a better place to live."

Nicola brings a wealth of understanding from across the active travel sector to South Yorkshire, from her role as Director of Income Generation at Cycling UK, where she supported the creation of cycle friendly environments. In her ten year career at Save the Children, Nicola supported families in the UK to give the best start to their children, by linking up the public, private and third sectors to make a difference in communities and create change.

South Yorkshire’s Mayor Oliver Coppard, said: “I’ve been open about the challenges we still face in delivering on our ambitions for active travel, but I’m determined to build a better-connected, more sustainable and healthier South Yorkshire. People being able to walk or cycle where they want, when they want, is the foundation on which more liveable, healthier and wealthier communities are built. 

“Nicola brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise as we seek to step up our efforts to encourage walking and cycling schemes.  We’ve been promised a London-style integrated transport network for South Yorkshire, and Nicola will be central to our work to drive change.”

Nicola will join South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority on 1 August to support delivery of the region’s Active Travel Implementation Plan for over 1000km of walking and cycling routes, 800m of safe crossings and 230 sq. km. of low traffic neighbourhoods across the region by 2040.

Active Travel Commissioner, Ed Clancy, added: “I am very excited to welcome Nicola to our Active Travel team, to support our mission to get people cycling and walking more across South Yorkshire. Her experience and talent will help build on the foundations we’ve laid to transform our infrastructure and to give communities the freedom to choose active travel for everyday trips. 

“By putting well-designed and effective schemes in place we can bring about benefits to communities that help to improve lives – through better public health, connections to employment, education and local services, by tackling climate change, and by giving people the confidence and independence to travel safely.”