Our sustainable travel credentials showcased at national awards

Sewell Group has been recognised for its efforts to encourage staff to travel sustainably at a national awards.

Hull was highlighted as an example of best practice nationally in promoting walking, wheeling, cycling and the use of public transport for everyday journeys, with both Sewell Group and Hull City Council picking up prizes at an event organised by Modeshift, the not-for-profit sustainable travel organisation.

The summit was a celebration of sustainable travel excellence and provided an opportunity for organisations from across the country to share their knowledge and expertise around the delivery of travel plans.

As part of the summit, Modeshift hosted its award ceremonies for both the National STARS Awards and the 2024 TravelWise Week Awards.

Sewell Group beat strong competition to be crowned STARS Business Site of the Year.

The award recognises workplace settings that achieved Modeshift STARS in the most recent accreditation year. Modeshift STARS offers a national accreditation for business, education and community organisations who have demonstrated excellence in supporting and driving walking, cycling and other forms of sustainable travel, by developing and implementing an effective travel plan.

In total, 117 organisations achieved accreditation over the course the past 12 months, with three shortlisted for the prestigious award, all of whom achieved the Very Good Travel Plan level of STARS Business accreditation.

Sewell Group’s recent initiatives included positive behaviour change campaigns to encourage people to think about travelling more sustainably, cycle to work schemes and car share incentives.

Bethany Dennett, Community Investment Strategist for the Sewell Group, said:

“We’re delighted to be recognised on a national stage for our work in encouraging our people to think more about how and when they travel. Since bringing in our travel campaigns, we’ve seen a real increase in people considering car sharing and talking about whether business travel is always needed, but we’re not going to stop there – we’re always aiming to continually improve and push on with reducing our carbon emissions wherever we can.”

Hull City Council also retained its award for Best Local Authority Campaign at the 2024 TravelWise Week Awards. TravelWise Week is Modeshift’s yearly, global, week-long travel challenge, which promotes active travel, public transport and other cleaner and healthier transport choices.

In securing the award for a second straight year, the judges recognised the wide range of activities that were delivered across all seven days of TravelWise Week by the council and its partners, with over 250 individuals engaged throughout.

Activities that were delivered included Hull Maritime guided walks, Dr Bike sessions, delivered by R-evolution; with over 30 cycles being checked and repaired, as well as e-cycle try-outs. Twenty cycles were securely marked by Humberside Police and Stagecoach East Midlands, East Yorkshire Buses, Northern and the Yorkshire Coast Community Rail Partnership engaged with residents at a city-centre public transport event.