British Cycling, in partnership with Nottingham City Council, have delivered ‘Learn to ride’ sessions with girls aged 7-11 from Crabtree Farm Primary School in Bulwell. The school has a high proportion of children who do not own or have access to bicycles.

More than 45 children took part in the sessions throughout the year. The focus was to introduce reluctant girls into cycling, starting with Year 6.

Fourteen children also took a trip to the BMX track in Bulwell where they learnt how to ride a BMX bike. The skills they had learnt ensured they could build up to attempting different aspects of the track. The children were thrilled with being able to ride a different type of bike and continue to ride outside of school.

The impact has allowed children to believe in themselves and to enable them to gain confidence and enjoy the feeling of independence through cycling.

Graeme Waters, Community Coach at British Cycling, said: “The impact has been significant for the children’s health and wellbeing and their enthusiasm to learn to ride a bike has been infectious, the work is ongoing and the children who cannot ride are now receiving lessons”.

Lynne Bloomfield, Head of year 5 and 6 at Crabtree Farm Primary School, said: “We went from 4 children to 17 children cycling to school by the end of the year”.

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