News: Bigfoot and Penge Stomp into Bromley
Posted: 30th June 2009
Above: The Bigfoot Bike Club - giving cycling a strong foothold in Bromley
When Bromley Cyclists' application for funding from the Community Cycling Fund for London (CCfL) was rejected, they were very disappointed, but it would seem that the experience, far from crushing them, actually spurred them into action. As project leader Reverend Charles Potter explains, their additional hard work ended up paying greater dividends than they had ever anticipated.
"We thought we'd got it right. We wanted the funding to help us set up two cycle clubs for children, based in the London Borough of Bromley. We knew there was a demand for some organised cycling provision for children across the Borough, and we'd worked hard to get our two clubs off the ground. But when the funding was rejected, we thought that was that."
But his initial disappointment was tempered by some useful feedback from the London Cycling Campaign, which helped him make minor adjustments to the bid and resubmit it to the second funding round. And this time, his efforts were approved.
"That was very good news, because in between the two funding rounds, while I'd reworked the bid, other members had worked with British Cycling staff and continued to develop what we'd started. It meant that when we eventually got the go ahead, we were actually further ahead with the two clubs than we'd ever expected to be."
Above: Go-Ride Skills sessions with Penge Go-Ride Club
In fact, the extra ground work between bids meant that the two fledgling clubs, Bigfoot (Hayes) and Penge, have gained Go-Ride status and been joined by a third, based at The Priory School in Orpington. Whilst Bigfoot and Penge offer training on Saturday mornings, the Orpington club provides after-school riding opportunities. The collective provision of this training is a huge achievement, and particularly in a very short period of time, in just one school term.
"We've not been going long, and the speed with which it has all developed has been quite incredible. When we started, there was no organised cycle training for kids other than the Bikeability training that is provided for year six pupils in primary schools across the Borough. That meant that there was literally nowhere for these kids to learn new skills, nor were there role models for them to continue to cycle. But if you want people to ride their bikes - whether it's for recreation, competition or as a means of transport, you've got to make sure that they feel safe doing so, and we knew we could help them with that by providing somewhere for them to learn and have fun at the same time. That's what is behind all of this, teaching children to ride safely and competently, and have fun while doing so. And let's face it, not every child wants to play football or do ballet; many want to ride their bikes. We also plan to encourage parents to get back on their bikes, with volunteering in the clubs and through whole family led rides, providing more role models to bring on the next generation's healthy life style changes."
As well as providing bikes and associated equipment, and secure storage, the CCfL funding has enabled the project to train five volunteers to become qualified British Cycling volunteer coaches at Level 2, ensuring their status as Go-Ride clubs. They are now also working towards Clubmark accreditation, which is Sport England's cross-sport kitemark for sports clubs. It comprises a set of standards that national governing body-affiliated clubs can use to ensure that they are observing best practice in child protection, coaching and competition, equity and club management.
" That is a very important development because it means that when we get Clubmark, we know we've got the basics right, and we can continue to build from there, teaching children to ride, and encouraging those who want to take it further, to do so. After all, this country is the most successful country on the track - we've got more World Champions that any other nation - and we've got one of the few velodromes in the Southeast just up the road (Herne Hill) so we've got all the right ingredients. Now we just need to get on and teach the kids to ride."
As well as the Go-Ride sessions on Saturdays and after school, a whole programme of events has already been planned for the summer months, including an end-of-term inter-club competition, a cycling-skills demonstration, and a stall at a school fair. The Bromley Cyclists are also considering an inter-schools cycling championship for 2010, and look forward to challenging the cycling supremacy of neighbouring borough of Sutton in the 2010 London Youth Games.
