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Creating everyday cycling communities for women November 2016
- 1. Creating everyday cycling communities for women
- 14. © Cog + Wheel
Editor's Notes
- Helloo! In the next 5 minutes, I’ll share with you the journey so far of York Bike Belles – York’s friendly cycling community. I’ll take you from our beginnings as an City of York Council LSTF funded Sustrans project to our current role as a volunteer-led community organisation. This is the Spring of 2014, when York hosted a stage of the Tour de France. This is not how to get more women riding bikes.
- We kicked off in early 2014 with a small group of women meeting for cycle chat in pubs around York. By that summer, we were in full swing with a programme of motivational communications and confidence-building activities. The methodology was simple – to address the main barriers and to create a welcoming community that women would want to be part of.
- Fast forward to 2016 and the impact has been astonishing. Over 7000 women have attended activities and many thousands more engaged with us online. 75% of participants increased their level of cycling and most also self-reported increased confidence and self-esteem.
- So, what’s the magic formula? First off - start with local champions Our champions are at the heart of our community. They are role models, they ride their bikes everyday as a way of life, they spread the word, they lead rides and support new cyclists. They now steer the organisation as York Bike Belles management committee
- Focus on new cyclist support and encouragement We offer online advice and a range of skills and confidence–building activities - social rides, buddying, training, bike tryouts and loans. These all address one of the main barriers for women – a perception that cycling on the road is dangerous. Here’s that amazing moment when someone learns to ride a bike again!
- Keep the communications going We mix it up on Facebook! Cycling and community events, local and national articles, motivational and random postings. This post about a simple bicycle vase encouraged women to tag their friends and reached several thousand people in a few hours. Central is the cultural message that riding a bike everyday around York is one of the best ways to enjoy life in the city. Women’s love of communication sharing is probably THE magic ingredient. Women who discover the joys of cycling will stop at nothing until everyone they know has discovered it too!
- Create opportunities to bring women together and develop friendships All our activities take place in relaxed environments with plenty of time to relax and get to know each other.
- Make activities fun and connected to the community, Look at what will appeal to women first. This is our annual Illuminate Your Bike Ride. We decorate our bikes with lights and cycle round the Illuminate York festival. We are usually told we are the best installation there!
- Increase skills and confidence in bike maintenance We work with bike shops to deliver workshops in a friendly, skills-sharing atmosphere. Our cheese and wine bike maintenance workshops have become infamous!
- Run monthly Social Rides all year round. Rides go at a steady pace with plenty of stops, maximum 2 hours cycling and always a café stop! They are great for introducing new members to the group and the best routes around town.
- Address the fear of safe cycling with young children. We developed a #travelwithtots roadshow at nurseries and children’s centres with tryouts and loans of child-carrying equipment. It won the Modeshift award for Excellence in Cycling this year.
- Keep the community open to everybody We focus on women but always say that everyone is welcome. Men are increasingly attending our events, attracted by our everyday, friendly ethos. Or so they say. This was our “Pedal to the Earth” Ride for climate change.
- In 2015, we started working nationally. We co-designed the Women and Cycling Conferences in 2015 and 2016. We are a founder member of WE Cycle UK, a group of practitioners who work towards gender equality in cycling . We aim to make riding a bike a normal and safe choice of transport for women. With our sister organisation in Scotland, the Women’s Cycle Forum, we are helping grow a national network around women and cycling.
- In June of this year, York was not successful in its transition bid to central government. York Bike Belles lost its funding and its staff. The York champions got together and decided our work was too important to stop. We created a volunteer-led organization and committed to carrying on our core activities, free to the York community.
- Remarkably, 6 months later, we have attracted new funding for 2017. But it has been a struggle. There were no funds specifically for women and cycling. We now have an exciting and innovative programme for 2017 – cycling friend volunteering, community cycling hubs and York’s first City Beautiful #walkcyclefestival And of course making everyday cycling the coolest thing in town!
- What do we need to grow this movement? Firstly, please keep talking to us, the people working in this area. We need your support. We need better sharing of good practice around women and cycling. We need a specific allocation of funding and, last but far from least, we need safe, direct and barrier-free space for everyday cycling, that will benefit everyone. Thanks for listening.