Grants are available to not-for-profit organisations in England that are developing cycling activity in their community for the development of new, or the improvement of existing, cycling facilities in communities.
Funding body: British Cycling
Maximum value: £ 50,000
Application deadline: 16/11/2020
Background
The UCI Road World Championships will take place in Yorkshire in September 2019. This is a major international event that will include a range of men’s and women’s races, across age groups and will include for the first-time, para-cycling. Events will take place in different towns and cities across Yorkshire.
British Cycling wants to deliver a lasting legacy across England and to that end is partnering with Sport England and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to fund the development of new or the improvement of existing cycling facilities in communities across England.
Objectives of Fund
The Places to Ride Programme is provided by a £15 million commitment from Government and will be delivered over a three-year period through a partnership of British Cycling, Sport England and the Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS).
The key objectives of the programme are:
- Inspiring people to ride.
- Connecting the community
- Building a lasting legacy.
The programme aims to:
- Encourage more people from a range of different backgrounds regardless of gender, age, ability or ethnicity to engage with cycling in all its forms. There should be more opportunities for people to enjoy riding in an accessible and inclusive environment; focusing especially on provision that responds to the needs of women and girls and people with a disability.
- Invest in opportunities that connect local communities and address barriers to engaging with cycling. Recognise the wider benefits of riding a bike to enable societal benefits such as community cohesion, reducing social isolation and promoting health and well-being through prevention.
- Ensure a lasting legacy of active environments that provide high quality and affordable opportunities to engage with cycling now, that will continue to be deliverable in the future.
Value Notes
There is a total of £15 million available for the three years.
There are two levels of funding:
Small grants of between £1,000 and £50,000 are available. It is expected that the average grant will be much less than £50,000.
Larger grants of between £50,000 and £500,000.
Match Funding Restrictions
Match funding is required and should be between 25% and 50%.
Who Can Apply
The funder is looking for organisations that ‘really understand’ cycling in their local community.
Applications will be accepted from not-for-profit organisations located in England, including:
- Clubs (existing and new).
- Local authorities.
- Community organisations.
- Education establishments.
- Charitable organisations.
Location
England
Restrictions
The following are not eligible for funding:
- Individuals.
- Sole traders.
- A two-person partnership company or other limited organisations established to make a profit.
- Projects that apply to or seek to improve public-highways.
- Projects that are not free from road-traffic.
- Projects located outside of England.
- Revenue only projects – for example, facility hire, consultant fees, staffing, running costs, coaching costs, transport costs, subscriptions, etc.
- Applications seeking funding in excess of £500,000, unless there are exceptional circumstances.
- Applications for less than £1,000.
- Routine maintenance arising from wear-and-tear.
- Projects intended for private gain.
- Retrospective funding – paying for works that have already started or been completed.
- Projects previously funded by British Cycling or Sport England other than in exceptional circumstances.
- Projects that are for school use only or restrict membership in any way.
Eligible Expenditure
The funding is intended to support dedicated cycling facilities, free from traffic and designed to encourage participation from existing and new cyclists. A flexible approach will be taken to facilities and applicants are encouraged to present their own ideas about the specific facilities being planned.
Typical characteristics of a Places to Ride facility will:
- Be traffic-free.
- Provide one or more opportunities to participate, for example BMX, track-cycling, mountain biking, etc.
- Possibly include a modest learn-to-ride area for children and young people at the early stages of developing their cycling skills and confidence.
- Be open to all the community – ideally with programmes/sessions designed to encourage local people to get involved.
- Offer cycling opportunities to people who may not have access to, or be able to afford equipment needed – for example be able to provide relevant cycles, helmets and any other equipment.
- Be possibly located alongside other sports/activities to encourage a much broader appeal across all sections of the community and encourage social interaction.
Examples of projects that might be funded include:
- New cycling facilities.
- Improvements to existing cycling facilities, such as lighting, fencing, workshop space or toilets.
- Learn to ride areas.
- Combined and co-located schemes with various cycling facility types available.
- Equipment such as bicycles, specialised bicycles, storage facilities, data-tracking monitors, coaching equipment, etc.
- Cycling kit and equipment.
- Training equipment.
- Cycle storage.
- Other items that can support innovative solutions to getting more people riding bikes, eg, using technology.
How To Apply
There is a two-stage application process.
Stage one applications can be submitted until Monday, 16 November 2020. Previously the deadline was in January 2021; however, there has been so much interest in the fund that it has decided to close two months early to new applications.
Stage two applications are by invitation only and full details will be provided at that time.
The prospectus, small grants advice and support, and online application form are available on the British Cycling website.
Organisations are encouraged to discuss their ideas in advance of submission with their relevant Cycling Delivery Manager, who can help to refine their ideas and provide feedback on lessons learnt from other projects.
Regional contacts are:
South – Ruth Miller – ruthmiller@britishcycling.org.uk / 07940 302 177
South East – Luke Anderson – lukeanderson@britishcycling.org.uk / 07843 549 106
South West – Chris Brown – chrisbrown@britishcycling.org.uk / 07949 810 639
East – Lauren Forrow – laurenforrow@britishcycling.org.uk / 07860 404 831
Central – Colin Walker – colinwalker@britishcycling.org.uk / 07793 844 653
West Midlands – Amy Gardner – amygardner@britishcycling.org.uk / 07940 738 319
East Midlands – Steve Johnson – stevejohnson@britishcycling.org.uk / 07879 426 064
North West – Rob Pickering – robpickering@britishcycling.org.uk / 07384 214 078
Yorkshire – Anthony Gill – anthonygill@britishcycling.org.uk / 07940 738 365
North East – Hilary Conway – hilaryconway@britishcycling.org.uk / 07834 518 152
Useful Links
British Cycling – Places to Ride