Another successful Car Free Day

A huge thank you to everyone that took part in World Car Free Day, an annual challenge encouraging people to ditch the car and get to work by alternative means. We had over 200 occupiers take part, travelling to Milton Park by other modes of transport (anything other than single occupier car). 

Everyone that took part had a free breakfast at the Milton Feast area, enjoying bacon butties and veggie sandwiches from Pierreponts Café and pastries and coffee from Horsebox Coffee.

The queue for the bus at Didcot Parkway Station was quite impressive but went down very quickly, thanks to our partnership with Thames Travel and frequent bus services.

Others took advantage of our free ebike scheme as part of their commute, open to all occupiers. One ebike user said, "It’s not so much about saving the effort but it is so much quicker, saving time." You can register via the Donkey Republic app using your Milton Park work email address to see where the free bikes are located. The system will recognise your domain and not charge you for rental (the first 48 hours of use are free).

There was healthy competition for companies to achieve the highest percentage of people taking part and we are delighted to announce the winners:

• Large company: Evotec – 22% of their workforce based at Milton Park (retaining their 2019 title (the last time we ran the event, pre pandemic). 
• Medium company: Adaptimmune – 8% of their workforce
• Small company: Wild Bioscience – 61% of their workforce.

Participants from the winning companies will get an exclusive visit from our street food vans to their offices.

Prizes will be awarded for the following individuals:

• Furthest distance walked: John Chaddock from Ipsen, who walked from Abingdon:

• Furthest distance cycled: Warren Shaw from Ipsen, who walked from near Witney:

• Quirkiest journey: Alice Butt from Halliburton, who rollerbladed from Abingdon and said she only attempted this because of the fab new cycle path along Peep-o-Day Lane and across Kelaart’s Field:

• Joint quirkiest journey: Couple Matt Mills and Catherine Rogers from Evotec, who cycled in on tandem from Wantage:

Thank you to all our sustainable travel partners who also exhibited on the day to speak to people taking part:

• KINTO Join - A secure car share scheme is available to all employees with a guaranteed lift home in case of emergency. It’s easy to find someone to share your journey with, gain rewards and access preferential parking. You can also use the platform to find a cycle or walking buddy
• Oxford Bus Company/ Thames Travel - Milton Park employees living in the Didcot area or travelling to Milton Park from Didcot Parkway railway station can use any of the Thames Travel and Oxford Bus Company buses between these areas for just £20 per year. There are also frequent bus connections to Milton Park from further afield, including Abingdon, Didcot Orchard Centre, East Hanney, Grove, Oxford, Wallingford and Wantage.

If you'd like any information about green travel options to the Park, please contact veronica.reynolds@miltonpark.com.