The big picture

What is Connect2 about?

Connect2 is all about connecting people to people, people to places and people to pride in their local community. This nationwide community project aims to create a more active and positive future for ourselves and our children.

How will Connect2 make a difference?

Sustrans, the charity behind Connect2, is working with partners around the UK to overcome long-standing barriers such as busy roads, railways or rivers that are dividing communities and making it difficult for people to travel by foot or bike as part of their everyday lives.

This might mean building a foot or cycle bridge just for people over a river or railway, creating a pleasant path for people that by-passes the by-pass, or linking up existing traffic-free paths. Each solution will be inspirational in design but sensitive to the character of the area and the needs of the local community.

Connect2 and the Big Lottery Fund

Connect2 is one of the projects competing for a single multi-million pound grant from the Big Lottery Fund’s Living Landmarks: The People’s Millions competition. The winner will be decided by public TV vote in Winter 2007/08 and we hope that Connect2 will be successful in going forward to this vote and, of course, in then winning the grant which will make our Living Landmarks vision a reality.

Before then, we will be working with communities such as yours to develop each Connect2 scheme and gather local support. This will help us make our final selection of schemes that will become the Connect2 Living Landmarks community project we take forward through this final selection process.

This is a great opportunity for Connect2 and for your community. Connect2 could transform the way people move within your community and have a positive impact on people’s health and the environment now and for generations to come.

Connect2 Final List

On 24th April we submitted our recommendations to the Connect2 National Steering Committee, chaired by Rt Hon Charles Clarke MP, who expressed satisfaction with our selection procedure and endorsed our final list of schemes for the Connect2 project. This final list of 79 schemes will be presented to The Big Lottery and taken forward to the TV vote.

You can view a PDF of the Final List by clicking here (opens in new window).

Who are Sustrans?

Sustrans is the UK’s leading sustainable transport charity working on practical projects so people can choose to travel in ways that benefit their health and the environment. We are the charity behind the National Cycle Network, Safe Routes to Schools, Bike It and TravelSmart, all projects that are changing our world one mile at a time.