Aiming to make cycling accessible to everyone
The Big Bike Revival Fix, Learn, Repair programme funded by Cycling UK offers a range of activities to help make cycling accessible to everyone.
Avanti Cycling Community Interest Company (CIC) has partnered with Reading Bicycle Kitchen (RBK) and has been running a series of workshops and training sessions which are FREE to participants.
Events have a common focus to deliver fun, social and inclusive activities and services that help the perception of cycling as a practical and normalised everyday behaviour.
Cycling UK’s mission is to deliver events that enable many in a community to start cycling through fixing bikes, teaching skills and leading rides.
The programme is funded by Department for Transport, and supported by local authorities with a clear set of aims and objectives:
- Encourage people who don’t already, to cycle
- Encourage people to cycle more often
- Increase short cycling journeys
- Improve the perception of cycle safety
- Improve people’s confidence to cycle
Focused primarily on adults (with children supported through Bikeability training and Dr Bike sessions in schools), one of the key challenges has been to spread the word across different community groups for a short duration project (initial period of only 3 months).
The weekly Saturday DIY/ supported repair sessions at RBK have continued in popularity and these are now complemented with fortnightly Basic Maintenance workshops – giving people some of the key skills for maintaining and repairing the most common issues arising on bikes.
The other arm of the programme is Cycling Skills Sessions spanning everyone from total beginner ‘Learn to ride’ support; Back on Bikes confidence rides – including using gears, signalling and other control skills; Commuting skills and Urban explorer rides – which cover different cycling routes around Reading and how to cycle safely on a variety of roads/ exploring various routes around the locality and a series of leisure rides for those wanting to try cycling with others.
Individuals or groups can be booked onto these sessions. We hope to secure additional funding to enable these and other sessions to continue throughout 2022 for free.
For more information, keep an eye on the Avanti Cycling website or contact info@avanticycling.co.uk to register interest in advance.
Karen Robertson
RCC Events Coordinator
