Young cyclists at Pield Heath House School are right on track!

They now have their own roadway on which to practise their two-wheeled skills, thanks to Transport for London, the London Marathon Trust and Hillingdon Council funding, which paid for the £250,000 circuit.

Also chipping in with a very useful £2,000 was Becky Benjamin, godmother of pupil Charlotte Moir.

Ms Benjamin did a bit of cycling herself, completing the London-Brighton cycle ride. The money she raised will buy more bicycles and equipment for the children to use.

“I wanted to raise some money for Pield Heath House School as a way of saying ‘thank you’ for the amazing work they do for and with their pupils,” she said.

“My goddaughter is a pupil there and has blossomed since joining the school.

“My cycle of 58 miles is nothing compared to some of the hurdles these children have to face on a daily basis and that’s what kept me going when the hills became too steep and I thought I couldn’t cycle any more.

“When I found the money raised was being put towards bikes for the new cycling track it really was the icing on the cake. How appropriate and fitting.

“I’m over the moon I’ve been able to help.”

Built by landscape engineers Blakedown in just seven weeks, the track is all-weather and capable of taking a full sized bus, so pupils at the school for special-needs children in Pield Heath Road, Hillingdon, can get valuable training in the safe use of buses under the Met Police’s Able To Travel programme ,and practice getting on and off in their wheelchairs.

The children can also take their cycling proficiency test at the track, and the school hopes organisations such as Hillingdon Slipstreamers cycling club and Recycle-A-Bike workshop in Uxbridge will run their own partnership projects. Other special needs schools will also use the track.

Louise Mahon, health, safety and welfare manager at the school, said she hoped to eventually have traffic lights and other street furniture in place, and said she would very much like to install Oyster card equipment, to make the bus experience even more lifelike.

“Seeing the kids whizzing around there at the opening ceremony was absolutely fantastic,” she said.

More funding will be needed, however, so Pield Heath House is on the lookout for a sponsor or donor, and volunteers will be needed to keep the track and surrounds in tip-top condition.