Cycling UK says its Big Bike Revival scheme is a blueprint of how to get more people cycling, particularly in harder to reach areas of the country.
The scheme aims to break down barriers to cycling by upskilling people in bike maintenance, teaching them to ride or boosting their confidence with led rides and other activities.
Under the scheme, Cycling UK supports community and not for profit groups deliver the aforementioned activities.
With £2 million in funding from the DfT, Cycling UK says more than 300 groups across England were able to participate between April 2021 and March 2022.
The scheme’s annual report says that during that time it supported more than 80,000 people to begin or return to cycling.
Meanwhile, 36% of respondents to the three-month follow-up survey – given to those who attend Big Bike Revival events – reported that they had started cycling 50% of the journeys they previously drove.
Cycling UK has hailed the programme’s track record of “getting people out of cars and onto a bike”.
It says more low-cost interventions like the Big Bike Revival are essential to achieving Government targets across the UK, including doubling cycling journeys in England by 2025.
Sarah Mitchell, Cycling UK CEO, said: “These dramatic results show the difference it can make when we support people to cycle as a form of transport rather than a sport.
“The programme’s track record of getting people out of cars and onto a bike is a clear sign that people are willing to cycle when it is introduced to them in the right way. I’m especially pleased that the Big Bike Revival has reached people who don’t usually cycle, like women and people from minority ethnic groups.
“The Big Bike Revival is a blueprint of how to get more people in the UK cycling, particularly in harder to reach areas. This is vital as the need for cycling – a cheap and accessible form of transport – will only grow as the cost of living crisis deepens.”
For 46-year-old Zoe Bird from Derby, attending cycle maintenance sessions for women through Big Bike Revival encouraged her to start cycling for the first time as an adult.
As well as enjoying the sense of freedom and the environmental benefits of cycling, she says it has made a real difference to her transport habits.
Zoe said: “Big Bike Revival has given me the confidence and self-belief to swap my commute and errand journeys from driving to cycling missions. Cycling isn’t just for Lycra clad sporty people.”
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