Who We Are

Cycling England is an independent, expert body, working to get more people cycling, more safely, more often.We promote the growth of cycling in England by championing best practice and channeling funding to partners engaged in training, engineering and marketing projects. We work tirelessly to make the case for cycling, showing how the humble bicycle can transform the way we travel to create a greener, healthier nation.

Our history

Cycling England replaced the National Cycling Strategy Board and was established in 2005 by the Department for Transport. Backed by key Government departments and cycling organisations, our original remit revolved around two key projects creating a cycling proficiency scheme for the 21st century, and trialling the impact of European levels of funding in six English towns and cities.

We launched Bikeability in March 2007, which offers children and adults professional, on-road training to help them develop the skills to navigate through today’s modern traffic conditions. Half of all the local authorities in England have already registered to deliver the scheme, giving families and individuals the confidence to get back in the saddle.

We have also worked alongside our first six ‘Cycling Towns’, Aylesbury, Brighton, Darlington, Derby, Exeter and Lancaster with Morecambe, to help them implement programmes to accelerate local take-up of cycling. So far, these interventions have paid off: cycling rates have risen by an average twenty per cent across the target areas.

In 2007 we worked with economists SQW to produce the first economic analysis of the benefits of cycling to the UK economy. We also proposed our plans for the future of cycling in England with ‘Bike for the Future II’. Both of these documents enabled us to secure the additional funding necessary for Cycling England to continue its mission to get more people cycling, more safely, more often.

Our future

Over the next three years we will continue to demonstrate how cycling makes a difference to lives and communities. From a 2006 base of £5 million, our funding has now risen to a total investment package of £160 million, a six-fold increase to support ambitious expansion plans. It will:

  • Allow 500,000 more 10 year olds to take part in Bikeability cycle training by 2012.
  • Build an additional 250 Safe Links to Schools, connecting around 500 more schools to the National Cycle Network.
  • Support Bristol, Englands first Cycling City and our eleven new Cycling Towns as well as continuing to work with our six original areas.

We thank our partners for their continued support, and look forward to the journey ahead.

Our Board

Our board is made up of experts from the related fields of public health, town planning, sustainable transport and the environment, as well as leading cycling campaigners and industry representatives.

Action notes from Cycling England Board meetings can be found in our Board Action Notes section.

Our Partners

Cycling England works with a range of partners who all share a vision of more people cycling, more safely, more often. To visit our partners’ websites, please click on the relevant logos below.

  • Cycle Training Standard Boards
  • British Cycling
  • Department for Transport
  • CTC
  • Education and Skills
  • RoSPA
  • Sustrans
  • LARSOA

Useful Documents

Can't find the document you are looking for? Click here to go to Document Map section


Cycling City, Cycling Towns

England's first Cycling City and eleven new Cycling Towns are set to receive the largest investment in cycling the country has ever seen.

Find out more

Bikeability

Cycling England's flagship award scheme, teaching children to cycle safely and responsibly.

Find out more


Search

Latest News

Personality of the Month - Liz Clarke, BikeRight!

Liz_Clarke

What is your job or other main activity that involves cycling?
I am the Managing Director of BikeRight! – a cycle training company based in Manchester

How long have you done that?
I started BikeRight! in 2000 and gave up my day job in 2004!

More

Scheme of the Month - Workplace BUGs, Exeter

Exeter BUGs

Exeter’s Cycling Demonstration Towns project (Cycle Exeter) has been keen to encourage and support the development of Bicycle User Groups (BUGs) in workplaces. 86,000 people work in Exeter and the project is working hard to get more of them cycling!

More

New economic analysis signals a more effective approach to cycling

New research published today makes the case for a fundamental rethink in the way local authorities plan cycling. The research, by independent economists SQW, argues that cycling must be treated with the same rigour as other mainstream modes of transport if its benefits are to be fully understood.

More

More News

Newsletter Sign-up

Sign up here to receive our newsletter featuring key information for local authorities and other cycling professionals. All we need is your email address:

To remove your email, click here.