Anna Hughes
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Anna Hughes
| image =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1983|01|08}}
| occupation = Director of Flight Free UK
| website = {{URL|https://www.annacycles.co.uk/}}
}}
Anna Hughes (born 8 January 1983) is a cyclist, author, and sustainable transport campaigner.{{Cite news|last=Bearne|first=Suzanne|url=https://www.theguardian.com/money/2019/aug/10/climate-crisis-holiday-no-fly-trains-ferries|title=Climate crisis: 'We don't fly to go on holiday now – and it doesn't cost the earth'|date=2019-08-10|work=The Guardian|access-date=2020-04-21|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}} She is currently the Director of Flight Free UK as well as being on the board of the charity Population Matters.{{Cite web|url=https://populationmatters.org/our-board|title=Our board|date=2018-10-12|website=Population Matters {{!}} Every Choice Counts {{!}} Sustainable World Population|language=en|access-date=2020-04-21}}
Career
Hughes worked as a teacher, before taking a job as a Bike It Officer at the travel charity Sustrans in 2009.{{Cite web|url=https://getoutside.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/guides/getoutside-champion-anna-hughes/|title=GetOutside Champion: Anna Hughes|last=|first=|date=|website=OS GetOutside|language=en-gb|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-04-22}}{{Cite web|url=http://detourblog.co.uk/2015/11/06/eat-sleep-cycle-anna-hughes-4000-mile-bike-ride-the-uk-coastline/|title=The unseen UK: Anna Hughes' 4,000 mile epic along the UK coastline|last=Claire|date=2015-11-06|website=detour blog|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-21}} She then worked as a freelance cycle instructor and bike doctor in London before becoming the director of the Flight Free UK campaign.
Cyclist
In 2011 Hughes cycled 4,000 miles around the coast of Britain over 10 weeks, a route she repeated by sailboat in 2013.{{Cite web|url=https://totalwomenscycling.com/longform/eat-sleep-cycle-anna-hughes-tells-us-what-its-like-to-cycle-the-coast-of-britain|title=Eat Sleep Cycle: Anna Hughes Tells Us What It's Like to Cycle the Coast of Britain|website=Total Women's Cycling|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-21}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.cyclinguk.org/article/anna-hughes|title=Anna Hughes {{!}} Cycling UK|website=www.cyclinguk.org|access-date=2020-04-20}}{{Cite web|url=https://community.berghaus.com/your-adventures/everyday-adventurers/anna-hughes/introducing-everyday-adventurer-anna-hughes/|title=Introducing Everyday Adventurer Anna Hughes!|last=Berghaus|first=Team|date=2013-05-10|website=community.berghaus.com|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-21}} She then rode from Land's End to John O Groats in 2015, and 1000 km from Dieppe to Nice in 2019.{{Cite news|last=Hughes|first=Anna|url=https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2020/feb/15/i-cycled-from-dieppe-to-nice-saw-a-different-france|title=I cycled from Dieppe to Nice and saw a different France|date=2020-02-15|work=The Guardian|access-date=2020-04-21|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}{{Cite news|last=Wilson|first=As told to Antonia|url=https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2019/sep/21/where-environmentalists-go-on-holiday-no-fly-green-sustainable-breaks|title=Where environmentalists go on holiday|date=2019-09-21|work=The Guardian|access-date=2020-04-22|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}} Hughes has also written several books about cycling, including Eat, Sleep, Cycle (2015), which documents her 2011 ride around Britain, and Pedal Power (2017), a collection of "inspirational stories from riders around the world".{{Cite web|url=https://summersdale.com/sd-author/anna-hughes/|title=Anna Hughes|website=Summersdale|language=en-GB|access-date=2020-04-22}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.waterstones.com/book/pedal-power/anna-hughes/9781786850065|title=Pedal Power by Anna Hughes {{!}} Waterstones|website=www.waterstones.com|language=en|access-date=2020-04-22}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.waterstones.com/book/eat-sleep-cycle/anna-hughes/9781849536875|title=Eat, Sleep, Cycle by Anna Hughes {{!}} Waterstones|website=www.waterstones.com|language=en|access-date=2020-04-22}} Hughes was included in Cycling UK's 2019 list of 100 Women in Cycling for her "inspirational writing on cycling".
Sustainable travel campaigner
In February 2019 Hughes founded the Flight Free UK campaign, based on the Swedish Flygfritt campaign in which over 14,000 people pledged to not fly during 2019.{{Cite news|last=Vidal|first=John|url=https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2019/jan/26/why-i-only-take-one-holiday-flight-a-year-climate-change|title=Why I only take one holiday flight a year|date=2019-01-26|work=The Guardian|access-date=2020-04-22|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}} The Swedish campaign for 2019 was started by neighbours Maja Rosen and Lotta Hammar.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/video_and_audio/headlines/46362159/the-two-swedish-mums-who-want-people-to-give-up-flying-for-a-year|title=The two Swedish mums who want people to give up flying for a year|work=BBC News |language=en-GB|access-date=2020-04-22}} The UK campaign asks UK residents to pledge not to fly in 2020, in what Hughes has described as "sort of Veganuary for aviation".{{Cite web|url=https://flightfree.co.uk/about_us/|title=About us {{!}} FlightFree UK|website=flightfree.co.uk|language=en|access-date=2020-04-20}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/20-pledges/flight-free-pledge-2020-flying-travel-editor-fkygskam-a9250706.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/20-pledges/flight-free-pledge-2020-flying-travel-editor-fkygskam-a9250706.html |archive-date=7 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Why I, The Independent's deputy travel editor, have pledged to go flight-free for a year|date=2020-01-06|website=The Independent|language=en|access-date=2020-04-20}}{{cbignore}}{{Cite news|last=Haines|first=Gavin|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/news/is-swedens-flight-shame-movement-dampening-demand-for-air-travel/|title=Is Sweden's 'flight shame' movement dampening demand for air travel?|date=2019-05-31|work=The Telegraph|access-date=2020-04-21|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}} The organisation also campaigns to lower the relative cost of alternatives to flying. As director of the campaign Hughes has criticised the idea of lowering of the Air Passenger Duty Tax and continued development of long haul flight routes.{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/flybe-collapse-southampton-belfast-airport-close-flight-tobias-ellwood-a9291046.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/flybe-collapse-southampton-belfast-airport-close-flight-tobias-ellwood-a9291046.html |archive-date=7 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Flybe collapse could close Southampton and Belfast airports, says MP|date=2020-01-20|website=The Independent|language=en|access-date=2020-04-21}}{{cbignore}} She has also called on organisers of Stag and Hen dos to find alternative ways to travel, such as trains, and criticised the UK Government under Boris Johnson for "fundamental lack of understanding" of climate issues.{{Cite web|url=https://www.euronews.com/living/2020/02/20/pre-wedding-hype-is-bad-for-the-planet-with-stag-dos-making-up-50-of-flights-from-the-uk-o|title=NEARLY HALF OF ALL FLIGHTS FROM THE UK ARE DOWN TO STAG DOS ABROAD|last=|first=|date=20 February 2020|website=|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=}}{{Cite web|url=https://metro.co.uk/2019/09/25/boris-johnson-flew-private-jet-get-back-parliament-10806305/|title=Boris Johnson flew by private jet to get back to Parliament|date=2019-09-25|website=Metro|language=en|access-date=2020-04-21}}
Hughes also advocates for sustainable forms of travel in her roles as an ambassador for the clothing company BAM, a Berghaus Everyday Adventurer, and a Get Outside Champion for the Ordnance Survey.{{Cite web|url=https://bambooclothing.co.uk/no-fly-adventure/|title=BAM - No-fly Adventures - Anna Hughes|date=2019-06-28|website=Bamboo Clothing|language=en-GB|access-date=2020-04-23}}
Books
- Eat Sleep Cycle: a bike ride around the coast of Britain (2015) {{Cite web|url=https://www.waterstones.com/author/anna-hughes/1062602|title=Anna Hughes books and biography {{!}} Waterstones|website=www.waterstones.com|language=en|access-date=2020-04-20}}
- Pedal Power: inspirational stories from the world of cycling (2017)
- Peaky Climbers: how eight amateur cyclists became kings of the mountains (2018) {{Cite web|url=https://peakyclimbers.com/2018/10/12/peaky-climbers-book-launch/|title=Peaky Climbers Book Launch {{!}} Peaky Climbers|language=en-GB|access-date=2020-04-20}}