The Pythian Club, based in Nottingham, began its journey in transport and sustainable travel over seven years ago by reaching out to NET (Nottingham Express Transit) to support their community engagement efforts. To our great honour, they welcomed us as partners, and we launched extensive community outreach initiatives across Nottingham.

In the early stages, we deployed eight staff members on the streets from 7am to 10pm, working closely with the police and participating in crucial training around county lines awareness, fearless reporting, health and safety, and incident response. Our efforts reached over 30 schools across the city, embedding safety messages and building trusted relationships with young people and local residents.

Two years into our journey, we extended our reach by partnering with Network Rail. We delivered their “You vs Train” safety campaign to 25 schools and organised community football tournaments at the Forest Sports Zone to connect safety education with physical activity and engagement.

We worked diligently to ensure our contributions were locally informed, sustainable, and relevant, tailoring every session to the community’s needs. Unfortunately, due to funding constraints, our formal partnership with Network Rail came to an end — but our commitment to safe, accessible transport remained unwavering.

At a strategic level, we engaged regularly with Nottingham City Council’s transport team, aligning our grassroots initiatives with city-wide transport strategies. We were proud to involve some of our young leaders in these meetings — a powerful demonstration of youth voice and leadership in action.

During this period, we also partnered with Superpedestrian, the company behind Nottingham’s first wave of electric scooters. For about a year, we helped deliver school and community campaigns around e-scooter safety and sustainable travel. Their donation of scooters allowed us to make a real impact, with overwhelmingly positive feedback from participants and families.

Alongside these projects, we also ran a small but impactful bike donation initiative. What began as a basic scheme evolved into a more robust program with the help of a dedicated bike technician. To date, we’ve donated over 420 bikes to our local community. These bikes have supported:

 • Mental health and physical activity during lockdowns,

 • Young people getting to school or college,

 • Adults commuting to work, and

 • Victims of bike theft, including NHS staff, offering them a small but meaningful lifeline.

One memorable example is a nurse whose bike was stolen at Nottingham City Hospital. Unable to afford a new one, we stepped in and donated a replacement, helping them continue their essential work.

Our relationship with NET continues to grow stronger, and in 2024 we were proud finalists at the National Transport Awards, recognising our commitment to safe, inclusive, and sustainable travel.

We continue to attend the Nottingham City Council’s strategic transport meetings, where we’ve had the opportunity to engage with the CEOs of Nottingham City Transport (NCT) and Barton Buses, both eager to explore collaborative opportunities with us.

We’ve also connected with Lime, the latest e-scooter provider in the East Midlands, who are keen to work with us on community engagement and safety awareness.

Looking Ahead

We are incredibly proud of our journey so far. Our work in the transport sector has not only promoted sustainability and safety but has also empowered young people and supported families during times of real need.

We remain committed to this vital work — with much achieved and much more still to do.