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1. Supporting Families to
Cycle
Jaki Lowe
Vice-President ECF
Trustee CTC
Director in Human Resources in the
Health Sector
Lifelong Cyclist

2. Who are CTC?
• UK’s national cycling charity and world’s oldest transport
organisation
• Membership based
• CTC’s vision is of a healthier, happier and cleaner world,
because more people cycle
• We want people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities to be
able to cycle safely, easily and enjoyably.
Jaki Lowe: Vice President of European
Cyclists Federation and Trustee CTC

3. Getting people on bikes
• Space for Cycling
• Big Bike Revival
• Fill That Hole
• Projects: Belles on Bikes and Play on Pedals
• Inclusive cycling projects and partnerships
Jaki Lowe: Vice President of European
Cyclists Federation and Trustee CTC

4. Current situation
• Cycling levels are very low in the UK – UK was 22nd
out of 28
countries in the ECF “Cycling Barometer” 2014
• Many barriers to entry, real and perceived
Jaki Lowe: Vice President of European
Cyclists Federation and Trustee CTC

5. What is Space for Cycling?
• London Cycle Campaign originally created Space for
Cycling to lobby candidates for London council
elections in April 2014
• Regional campaign groups liked and wanted Space
for Cycling for themselves
• CTC took it national in May 2014 with Cyclenation,
the confederation of local campaign groups
Jaki Lowe: Vice President of European
Cyclists Federation and Trustee CTC

6. Purpose & Method
• Enabling local campaign groups to broadcast national
messages tailored to a local audience
• Creating user friendly tools and a support network of local
campaign groups for sharing of best practice
Jaki Lowe: Vice President of European
Cyclists Federation and Trustee CTC

7. Key messages
• Space for Cycling aims to create the
conditions where anyone can cycle
anywhere
• Councillors in local government need to
commit to high standards of cycle-
friendly planning and design
• National Government needs to provide
the funding to make this happen
Jaki Lowe: Vice President of European
Cyclists Federation and Trustee CTC

8. What does Space for Cycling
mean in practice?
A range of solutions to create safe, direct, and attractive cycling
conditions for all local journeys.
In general:
•Protected space for cycling along or across major roads / junctions.
•Low traffic volumes and speeds in town or city centres, in residential
neighbourhoods, and on rural lanes.
•Traffic-free routes using parks and open spaces or rights of way – to
complement (not substitute for) a cycle-friendly road network
Jaki Lowe: Vice President of European
Cyclists Federation and Trustee CTC

9. What we’ve achieved in a year
• 17,000 email messages sent to UK councillors since April
2014
• 734 councillors support Space for Cycling campaign in
191 local authorities
• At least 12 Space for Cycling rides around the country
• 300 volunteer campaigners trained
Jaki Lowe: Vice President of European
Cyclists Federation and Trustee CTC

10. Next steps
Providing the means to create
visually engaging tools for local
campaigns, such as:
•Visualisations of suggested
cycle infrastructure
•Cycle Network “Tube” style
maps
Continued encouragement for
new and fledgling campaign
groups in both urban and rural
settings
Jaki Lowe: Vice President of European
Cyclists Federation and Trustee CTC

11. The Big Bike Revival
• DfT £1million funded project to get more people cycling in a
short space of time
• CTC worked with 91 bike recycling centres and 80 Halfords
stores to deliver over 1600 events over two weeks
• We had over 30,000 people passing through the events and
over 25,000 bikes checked, fixed and brought back into use
• DfT is planning to spend £200million in this parliament on
cycle safety . . .watch this space
Jaki Lowe: Vice President of European
Cyclists Federation and Trustee CTC

12. A Focus on Glasgow
• Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and the third largest city in
the UK
• A city with a heavy industrial heritage in ship building, civil and
marine engineering and transport
• Glasgow has poor and multi-deprivation factors and is reported as
one of the most challenged regions for health and health related
behaviour
• Over recent years manufacturing has seen a decline alongside an
insurgence in the services sector, professional and financial sectors
• Regeneration has also seen major developments in the city and has
attracted significant investment
• However wealth inequality remains one of the worst in the UK and
is widening
Jaki Lowe: Vice President of European
Cyclists Federation and Trustee CTC

13. Glasgow
Challenged but
a passionate culture and
ambitious for the future
Jaki Lowe: Vice President of European
Cyclists Federation and Trustee CTC

14. Play on Pedals
• £232,000 partnership project with funding from the 2014 Dream Fund,
the project aimed to reach 7,500 four year olds across Glasgow to give
them the chance to learn to ride a bike before they start school
• Play on Pedals did this by:
– Working alongside project partners to distribute a 500-strong bike fleet of balance and
pedal bikes across the city
– Acknowledging 50 'Hero Organisations' who will receive training, resources and support
to develop Play on Pedals within their local communities
– Providing training for 500 volunteers to become instructors, tutors and basic bike
mechanics
– Co-ordinating 'bike swaps' through which families can exchange bikes for new sizes to
suit childrens' needs
– Supporting small community events and organising 'Glasgovia', a huge celebratory
family ride across the city in 2015.
Jaki Lowe: Vice President of European
Cyclists Federation and Trustee CTC

15. Belles on Bikes
• Belles on Bikes is a network of womens cycling groups supported by
the CTC
• Belles on Bikes aims to support women to get cycling together in a
friendly, relaxed and inclusive environment
• Funded so far by small government grants
• Since January 2014 almost 10 cycling groups have been established
• One of those groups alone has 600 members!
• Belles on Bikes provides training and support and gives people the
confidence to cycle with a group, by themselves and with their
families
Jaki Lowe: Vice President of European
Cyclists Federation and Trustee CTC

16. Getting families cycling
• One size doesn’t fit all
• We need a range of offerings for different groups of people
• Groups are a glue that brings people to cycling and keeps people
cycling
• A focus on women leverages their leadership role in the family and
is more likely to result in habit formation in families and
communities
• We have some tried and tested products that appeal to people and
their communities but also which fit with the socio-political agenda
• THE TIME IS RIGHT
Jaki Lowe: Vice President of European
Cyclists Federation and Trustee CTC

17. Jaki Lowe: Vice President of European
Cyclists Federation and Trustee CTC
Jaki Lowe
Vice-President ECF
Trustee CTC
Director in Human Resources in the Health Sector
Lifelong Cyclist