Last year we launched our Rock Up & Ride, which, thanks to funding from Transport Scotland, aims to remove the barriers to young people riding bikes, with the impact being felt right across Scotland.
Since the first pedals were turned 12 months ago, our Rock Up & Ride programme has changed hundreds of lives through cycling, with more and more sites across Scotland giving children the opportunity to cycle.
From Inverness to Arran, and from Fife to South Lanarkshire, the programme has been acting on the Scottish Government’s promise to provide access to bikes for school age children who could otherwise not afford them.
Simply put, Rock Up & Ride is a series of fun, free and easy to access fully inclusive sessions aimed at children aged 7-14 years. These sessions link directly to a cycling club, aimed at delivering a long-term, sustainable increase in cycling activity and subsequently behavioural change.
The sessions will vary depending on the delivery model across the country, be it through a local school or in a club environment, and can range from mountain biking to playgrounds to pump tracks - the limits of the project are still to be found!
With over 600 young people’s lives being positively impacted through the programme, and almost 500 bikes given away so far, we wanted to show you what the programme looks like, and over the next few weeks will be releasing a series of videos showcasing the inspirational activity that has been taking place across the length and breadth of Scotland.
On the impact the programme is having, Rock Up & Ride Project Manager, Paul Jones, said:
“From day one this project has been truly inspirational for me and the many other people who have played key roles in bringing it to life. To see children getting so much joy from riding a bike, and then to see so many of them getting to take home their first ever bike at the end of the programme, has been a real privilege. For all of us involved, supporting children who wouldn’t ordinarily take part in organised cycling activity has been incredibly rewarding and I think these videos really bring the impact it’s having to life. Long may it continue!”
The Rock Up & Ride programme has so far been delivered at eight identified pilot sites across Scotland, which has enabled learning from each of the different venues, and allowed for an assessment to be made on the project’s impact across different disciplines of cycling, different club models, school/community sites and urban/rural locations.
By giving the participant something fun to do with their bike, and a means of developing their skills and confidence, Scottish Cycling is confident they will see greater value in their bike and the independence it can give them. This will greatly increase the likelihood of that participant using the bike for everyday journeys such as cycling to school or nipping to the shops – hopefully it will make them a cyclist for life.
The pilot will continue to be rolled out through the winter and into spring next year, with a number of new sites lined up to also benefit from the impact Rock Up & Ride is having.
To find out more, please contact paul.jones@scottishcycling.org.uk
