Founded by a small group of Bristol-based environmental enthusiasts in 1977, Sustrans is now the UK's leading sustainable transport charity.

In 1979 the fledgling charity took advantage of a new resource - the stretch of railway track between Bristol and Bath that had been closed when the Beeching Axe fell in the previous decade. Five years later the completed Bristol and Bath Railway Path became the first link in what is now the 10,000 mile National Cycle Network.

While the encouragement of cycling became government policy in Denmark and elsewhere from the 1970s onwards, the UK government left it to non-profits like Sustrans. With a succession of innovative projects like Liveable Neighbourhoods (transforming streets into spaces where people can enjoy their environment), Bike It (increasing the number of young people cycling to school and on other journeys) and Safe Routes to Schools (encouraging and enabling children to walk and cycle to school through practical and educational measures) Sustrans has brought ordinary, everyday cycling back into popularity.

In 2006 the charity, which now operates out of offices next to Bristol Cathedral, launched a successful bid for £50m in lottery funding for its ambitious Connect2 project. This aims to improve local travel in 79 communities across the UK, creating new walking and bike routes that enable people to make everyday journeys more easily. Rough estimates suggest that Connect2 will pass within half a mile of over 3 million people, 500,000 of them school children.

In Bristol a new Connect2 route will link the city with Ashton Court, Long Ashton and Nailsea, bypassing the roads around Cumberland Basin and enabling people both to commute by bike and to travel out from the city to Tyntesfield and other leisure destinations.

Also in Bristol, Sustrans is playing a vital role in the Cycling City project, sharing expertise and encouraging young cyclists with its schools-based Bike It scheme.