TfL Press Release - 30 community groups awarded funding to get more Londoners on their bikes

Transport for London (TfL) today announced the latest Cycling Grants London winners as part of its ongoing commitment to encourage Londoners of all backgrounds to take up cycling.  

Thirty local community projects across the capital have been awarded TfL’s Cycling Grants London funding to help make cycling more accessible for everyone.

Latest figures show that just one in four (25 per cent) people from non-white or mixed backgrounds cycled at least once in 2017/18, compared to 37 per cent of people from white backgrounds. And just 15 per cent of people from non-white or mixed backgrounds commuted by bike at least once in 2017/18, compared to 40 per cent of people from white backgrounds.

Cycling Grants London funding particularly helps groups that are traditionally under-represented among those choosing the healthy and sustainable way of travelling. The winning projects stretch across London and range from schemes that train young people in bike maintenance, a project that encourages women working in hospitals to cycle, training for young offenders to become bike mechanics, cycling groups for disabled and homeless people and a cycle training and maintenance project for the Hindu Bengali community.

Since TfL's Cycling Grants London began in 2015, they have helped encourage more than 18,000 people to cycle. The programme is part of TfL's sustained investment in cycling to make it easier and more appealing. By breaking down the barriers to cycling and making it safer, TfL aims to diversify cycling and make it accessible to people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds.

TfL is committed to increasing the number of women and diverse groups that cycle, including those from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds and people with disabilities. TfL offers free Cycle Skills training to give people of all abilities the chance to improve their confidence on the capital’s roads.

Where new infrastructure has been built to make cycling safer and easier, there has been a significant increase in cycling, including a 200 per cent increase on Lower Thames Street, a 124 per cent increase on Blackfriars Road and a 53 per cent increase in Whitechapel. The number of women cycling in London has increased four per cent in the last three years and since Quietway 1 was launched in 2016, the number of women using the route has increased from 29 to 35 per cent.

As part of his Transport Strategy, the Mayor has set a target to increase the proportion of people walking, cycling and taking public transport to 80 per cent of journeys by 2041. This will help tackle congestion and London’s polluted air and make the city a safer, greener and healthier place.

Will Norman, London’s Walking and Cycling Commissioner, said: “We want Londoners of all ages and backgrounds to take up cycling and enjoy the huge benefits. These grants directly support local groups to run brilliant projects in their communities encouraging many more people on to two wheels. By giving Londoners of all abilities, ages and backgrounds the confidence to cycle, we can improve their health and quality of life, as well as reducing toxic air pollution, which improves our city for everyone.”

Carolyn Axtell, Hornbeam JoyRiders Founder and Project Lead, said: “JoyRiders aims to empower women through introducing them to the joys of cycling, which can also help to build their confidence in other areas of life. I started taking my three kids to school by bike about three years ago and we found that it liberated us as a family. The school run became a pleasure rather than a stressful experience. Two years ago I discovered that at least 90 per cent of the other local mums would love to cycle but hadn’t had the opportunity, or had barriers preventing them, such as lack of confidence and not knowing how to cycle. This is why I started organising informal, social bikes rides once a month for women during school hours, and once a month for families and women-only group training for those who couldn’t cycle. The Cycling Grants London funding has enabled me to build a strong, ever-expanding network of participants and volunteers, as previously we didn’t have enough Volunteer Ride Leaders to accommodate all of the demand.”

Ash Rahman, from Pro Touch SA and his project ‘Get on your Bike – Let’s Ride London’, said: “We are all incredibly excited to have won Cycling Grants London funding; we weren’t expecting this at all. The buzz and atmosphere now amongst the young people we work with is infectious. Our project works to create four key opportunities for our targeted BAME children, aged 6+ in the Islington and Camden area. These opportunities are: Cycle Training, Road Safety Awareness, Bike Maintenance Workshops and Cycle Rides. The funding will help pay for the bikes, tools, equipment and training sessions needed to ensure that we are giving 100 per cent in empowering young people to ride in a confident and safe manner.”

Harriet Plows, Women & Girls Development Manager, Access Sport, said: “We are very excited to receive this funding from Cycling Grants which will enable us to create three women-only community cycle groups, engaging women from lower socio economic groups, from NHS hospitals and from deprived areas, helping them overcome their barriers to cycling (no bike ownership, lack of confidence, no space to learn how to ride). These groups serve as entry points into cycling and provide a supportive and friendly environment for women to build their skills on a bike and gain confidence to ride on roads. Through these groups we will be tackling the perception that cycling isn’t “for us” and creating cycle champions who can be advocates for cycling within their communities.”

Jade Dalton, Clinical Exercise Specialist from Open Age, said: "We are delighted to receive the Cycling Grants London grant to deliver a beginners’ cycling programme in partnership with Bikeworks for older adults in Hammersmith and Fulham. Open Age strongly believes that everyone, irrespective of their culture and socio-economic background, should have the same opportunity to take up new activities and learn new skills. This funding will allow us to broaden our provision of activities in Hammersmith and Fulham by providing a safe and social environment where residents can either learn how to cycle or develop their confidence in cycling. Over the two years, we aim to increase the number of residents aged 50+ cycling for leisure and/or active transport."

Miranda Leedham, Head of Customer Marketing and Behaviour Change at TfL, said: “We're working hard to make cycling more accessible for everyone, giving them access to high-quality cycle training and infrastructure which keeps people fit and happy. Cycle Grants London is a valuable part of that work – diversifying the growing number of people who are cycling in the capital every day. We’re looking forward to hearing success stories from the 30 projects that are awarded funding today.”

Martin Petry, Programmes Officer (Grants) at Groundwork London, which manages the scheme, said: "Groundwork is very excited about the launch of the 2019 round of Cycling Grants London as funded by TfL. Since 2015 we've supported 120 cycling projects across London, with each new round bringing an array of projects aimed at people of different backgrounds, ages and abilities. It's inspiring to see just how many people are truly committed to getting London's diverse communities to cycle more often and more safely."

The Mayor and TfL are working closely with boroughs across London to create up to 400km of new cycling routes to add to London’s ever growing cycling network. More than 140km of cycle routes have been constructed so far during this Mayoral term and they have made cycling safer at 86 junctions across London.

TfL is also working with the boroughs to encourage walking, cycling and the use of public transport through its Liveable Neighbourhoods programme, which provides funding for a wide range of community-supported projects. These could include the creation of green spaces, new cycling infrastructure, redesigned junctions and the widening of walking routes to improve access to local shops, businesses and public transport.