British Cycling’s strategy to get one million more women cycling by 2020
#WeRide British Cycling’s strategy to get one million more women cycling by 2020
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British Cycling’s strategy to get one million more women cycling by 2020
Introduction There is now a remarkable momentum driving women’s cycling. The opportunities for women to participate in the sport and shape its future have never been better and continue to improve. British Cycling is at the forefront of this change. Our role is to show leadership and create a growth environment for women’s cycling – shaping the market, influencing and supporting providers, recognising good practice and encouraging others to invest in women’s opportunities. Through working alongside our partners, sponsors, volunteers, bike brands, the retail sector and influential bodies throughout the industry, we have collectively stimulated growth in cycling. British Cycling’s ‘inspiration to participation’ campaign has seen repeated medal success at Olympic and Paralympic level lead to sustained progress in participation, racing, leadership and membership. The trends and the strength of the sector suggest that this growth can be sustained, particularly as cycling becomes more commonplace across Britain.
This report shows the great progress being made in creating better conditions for women and girls to participate in cycling at all levels. We are delighted to show case some of inspiring stories that bring women and girls cycling to life and show that in partnership with other organisations, we are making cycling more accessible. There’s still a lot more to do so I encourage any organisation wishing to join us in our ambition to get in touch with British Cycling and email us at: inspiringwomen@ britishcycling.org.uk Bob Howden President British Cycling
This snapshot of our progress shows that attitudes towards women’s cycling is changing, As Chair of an organisationwide project group, I’ve seen a huge change in approach to considering the needs of women and girls for riding, racing and running the sport both internally at British Cycling and with partners and the commercial sector. We can’t create the changes needed alone so it’s great to recognise the contributions of other partners volunteers and the commercial sector in this report as we create more profile and more welcoming cycling environment. Stewart Kellett Director British Cycling
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The Target
In March 2013, British Cycling launched an ambition to get one million more women on bikes by 2020. That’s an annual net growth of 125,000 women for eight years from a base line of 550,000. Given the history of a sport in which women’s elite competition was not recognised at Olympic level for almost 100 years, the barriers and motivations affecting women’s participation, and the current cycling infrastructure in Britain, we knew this was going to be a challenge. In fact, it could be one of the most ambitious targets that British Cycling has ever set. To hit the target, British Cycling adopted a strategy focusing on seven key areas: • More women cycling more often • Creating opportunities to race and ride • A pathway that keeps women engaged • More women running the sport • More women getting involved in governing the sport • Increasing female membership • Campaigning and commuting
British Cycling’s strategy to get one million more women cycling by 2020
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Our progress
Two years on, we have some great news about the success of our women’s #WeRide strategy. The significant developments and growth in women’s cycling are: • We are on track to achieve the 1 million target. Evidence: In the past two years we have directly influenced over 254,000 more women to cycle regularly. • The female market share is increasing. Evidence: In 2013, of the total number of people we influenced to cycle more frequently, only 29% were female. Two years on, we have increased this by 25%. Currently, 36% of the market we influence are women. • Sustainable behavioural change is happening. Evidence: In 2013, one in three women that we had encouraged to cycle regularly stopped doing so. Over the past two years, we have improved our retention rate by nearly a quarter. Now, only one in four women stop cycling regularly once they have started. We need to maintain this trend to help habits to form and ensure that the behavioural change we are creating is sustainable. • Through our leadership role as a national governing body, we are exerting a growing level of influence in the cycling market and there are real signs that the industry is starting to respond to the audience better. This includes more tailored products, improving the way they engage women, and in the commercial sector a move to start to invest in new opportunities. Halfords – for example – have recently signed a partnership with British Cycling’s Breeze programme to support our plans to grow women’s participation. To bring some of the growth and key developments to life, we want to tell the story of women’s success and participation. Here we’ve set out 10 case studies under the seven key areas to demonstrate practical examples of the change that is taking place across all areas of cycling.
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More women cycling more often
Caroline Foreman Overcoming the fear of judgement with support from Breeze British Cycling’s Breeze network is the biggest programme ever to get more women into riding bikes for fun. Breeze rider Caroline Foreman shows us how cycling has benefited her life, losing over five stone and biking her way to a happier life. When Caroline Foreman turned 40 last year, it was a milestone that prompted her into some soul searching. Unhealthy, overweight and unhappy for some time, Caroline decided something needed to change. “I was a big lady so not all exercise was ideal, or even doable,” Caroline says. “I’ve always had a bike though,” and in 2014 Caroline decided to head out on a few local rides by herself. “It was just three or four miles at first, but it felt amazing after not being out on a bike for so many years … I really couldn’t believe what I’d been missing.” Caroline started to realise that while cycling on her own was fun, it would be even more fun to find some pals to cycle with too. After bumping into a Breeze champion – a volunteer ride leader for the Breeze programme – on a ride, Caroline joined a local cycling club and started venturing onto Breeze rides. “It was then that I found out about the Warwickshire Breeze Challenge Event. 100km would really be a challenge, but I wanted to take it on and prove to myself that I could do it.
“On the morning of the event I was so nervous but excited too. It was just amazing to see so many other women cyclists all of different abilities, ages, shapes and sizes. Coming over the finish line was amazing and I had to stop and think. ‘Yes that was me who just cycled that distance.” Caroline reflects on the dramatic changes to her life and credits cycling with playing a major part. “Cycling has helped me get mentally strong, which has in turn helped me battle and beat depression. I’ve lost over five stone so far, and I have so much more confidence in myself and my new hobby. I never thought cycling could be for me, I always viewed it as something for the mega-fit, but I just tried it and have never looked back.”
In the past two years we have directly influenced 250,000 more women to cycle regularly. The progress has been accelerated over the past year, with an increase of 185,000 more women influenced to cycle regularly since March 2014.
British Cycling’s strategy to get one million more women cycling by 2020
Creating opportunities to race and ride
Beth Mills Bringing a welcome passion to women’s cycling, helping others to ride more Beth Mills was a keen cyclist throughout her teens before a busy work life got in the way. Getting back on the bike again in 2004, she hasn’t looked back and is now the organiser of the Wooler Wheel Sportive. “I started cycling in my late teens, but it wasn’t until we moved to Northumberland in 2004, that I rekindled my interest in cycling. I used it as a mode of transport for when I needed to get into Wooler instead of using the car.” A desire to do more for the area she now called home prompted her interest in event organisation. “During 2011/12, Wooler, like a lot of rural UK, was suffering from a lack of visitors due to the recession. I thought a cycling event would bring people into the area. The Wooler Cycle Hub had been set up in 2010 with routes and accompanying maps and it made sense to build on the framework that was already there. The first Wooler Wheel sportive was held in October 2012.”
Beth has been able to use the success of the events to inspire a younger generation to get involved in the sport. “With some of the proceeds of the Wooler Wheel events, we have been able to buy 20 bikes for local schools, aimed at getting two-to-five year-olds pedalling, which is fantastic. The sooner we can get young people on bikes the better.”
Following her success Beth had a real desire to get more women riding their bikes.
In 2013, participation figures for challenge events showed 13.9% were female, compared to 20.7% in 2015.
“We want to get the message across that our sportives are fun and welcoming, so even if you are a lady entering by yourself for the first time, there will be a warm welcome and supportive marshals all-round the course.”
In competitive cycling, the number of Race Licence holders – which are needed to take part in racing – now stands at over 4,000 having risen by 43% since March 2013.
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A pathway that keeps women engaged
Alison Lewis Finding more ways to get involved with British Cycling As a coach, Bikeability instructor and Breeze champion, Alison Lewis is a great example of how women can take their passion for a sport to the next level – and help inspire more people to get involved and progress. Her passion and involvement with the sport developed in 2011, when a friend had a fall from her bike while out on a ride together. “I felt that being the more experienced rider, I could have perhaps prevented this, with training.” Alison put herself through training to be a Bikeability instructor, and took on the role of assistant coach at a local youth cycle club – a female coach being a first for the club. “After helping out at the club for over a year they suggested I get trained as a coach, so that I could lead sessions.” Alison completed Level 2 Coaching Award, followed by Level 2 Road & Time Trial and Level 2 Mountain Bike. Alison is also assistant team manager for the South East youth Inter-Regional Road Race Championships. “I love supporting the talented youth riders on our team and seeing them go on to success as junior riders,” she added. “The racing is incredibly exciting to watch and it’s humbling to think that I’m probably watching future National or Olympic champions.” Alison has recently put her coaching skills to good use by offering local Rider Development sessions for women as part of her Breeze rides.
Growth in female cycling has been historically restricted by ‘churn’ whereby high levels of newcomers have stopped cycling soon after taking it up. In 2013, as many as one in three women who were encouraged to cycle regularly stopped doing so. Over the past two years we have improved our retention rate by nearly a quarter. Now, less than one in four women stop cycling regularly once they have started.
British Cycling’s strategy to get one million more women cycling by 2020
Laura Trott Leading the way for inspiration to participation Laura Trott is a multiple World and Olympic champion, whose journey from participant to inspirational performer started with a British Cycling Go-Ride club. British Cycling’s Go-Ride programme provides the first step onto the Olympic Talent Development programme for young talented female riders, with over 60% of the current Great Britain Cycling Team having progressed from Go-Ride Clubs. “I initially took up the sport as a way to keep fit and started cycling at Welwyn Wheelers, a Go-Ride Club in north London. It quickly went from there and I eventually moved onto the Olympic talent programme. “The Go-Ride programme is doing a brilliant job of harnessing the enthusiasm of young girls and encouraging more youngsters to get involved. It really is going from strengthto-strength and it’s unbelievable to hear about the increasing numbers of young riders putting power to the pedals.”
The most recent figures from our programme for under 16s – Go-Ride – are very promising for the future, with 40% of the 175,000 opportunities to participate a result of female riders getting involved.
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More women running the sport
Yvonne Mills Giving young people an opportunity to thrive Volunteers are fundamental to grassroots sport and the work of one volunteer was recognised by last year’s BBC Sports Personality of Year Award, as Yvonne Mills was named as the North West Unsung Hero for 2014. Yvonne, who is a volunteer at Roch Valley Raiders Go-Ride Club in Heywood, received the award in recognition of the difference she has made to cycling in her local community. Having bought her two children bikes for Christmas, Yvonne was aware a local BMX track existed that was in a bad state of repair and decided she wanted to do something about it so local people with the opportunity could ride in a safe environment. In 2009, Yvonne set about regenerating the track and established Roch Valley Raiders BMX Club and the club has gone from strength-to-strength. Yvonne said: “Volunteering has given me so much more confidence and self-belief, and seeing the smiles of riders at race meetings or coaching is enough reward to know that my time and efforts are appreciated.” As club secretary, Yvonne is responsible for everything from handling the club’s administration to producing the club’s promotional material and applying for funding. Yvonne also coordinates the recruitment and training of volunteers and provides support to the members at every level, going above and beyond the expectations of a voluntary club secretary.
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Monica Eden Clubs support women into coaching and now Monica coaches the country’s best Monica Eden came to cycling as a teenager, first picking up a mountain bike when she was 13. After toying with a career in journalism she changed tack and is now a regional performance pathway coach with British Cycling. “As soon as I got stuck in and started coaching I loved it and I got a real buzz. I was really lucky to have such a supportive club who helped me develop and funded my first coaching qualification. Within six months I had decided that I wanted my career to be in coaching.” One of Monica’s main roles as a performance pathway coach is helping young girls who are just starting out in the sport to progress up the ladder. “There is a really strong pathway for young girls coming into the sport now and you can see the strength of the pathway in Great Britain’s team pursuit squad. Those girls have been dominant since the event was introduced and the competition for places is so high.”
Strong year-on-year growth has seen a 6% increase in the number of female coaches trained since last April, while 25% of all coaches trained to Levels 1 and 2 are female. There are now a total of 1,552 female coaches within British Cycling, while over 45% of instructors working on British Cycling contracts and Cycle Training tutors are female. British Cycling’s National Youth Forum has seven young women sitting on the group and six males, providing a 54% female representation. This is encouraging for the future planning and accessibility for the sport.
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More women involved in governing the sport
Nicky Hawker At the head of the race – from spectator to working at the top of the sport Nicky Hawker was a keen horse rider before her sons started riding BMX. Cycling soon became her passion, which was recognised when she won the Brian Cossavella Trophy for services to event promotion at British Cycling’s 2015 Annual Awards Dinner. “I got into the sport when my sons started riding BMX. I was at an event with my sons and was asked if I could be one of the officials on the finish line and it snowballed from there.” Nikki has never looked back and now works across a wide range of BMX activity. “I have run the North West region of BMX for the last seven years and I’m currently in my fourth year of working on the National BMX Series which kicks off again in early March. I officiated at the BMX World Championships when they came to Birmingham in 2012 and I also sit on the BMX National Series Working Group. It can be hard work at times but it’s great fun and really rewarding. “I started out as a mum who just wanted to get a bit more involved in the sport that my children participated in. I think a lot of parents and family members would get more involved in the sport if they knew the opportunities available to them. “Even though my sons no longer need me to ferry them about to races I am more involved in the sport now than ever before!”
Although Nikki thinks more could still be done she is keen to highlight that more and more women are getting involved in cycling behind the scenes. “I’ll be leading a team of 21 officials at the Scottish National BMX Championships, with 13 of them women. It just shows that there is a real appetite from women to get involved. I know a lot of young women who are doing their qualifications which is great for the future and I would urge anyone with an interest in the sport to get involved.”
In 2013, 12% of trained commissaires were female – this has increased to 15% to date. British Cycling has focused on improving the overall experience for all those being trained and educated through the commissaire pathway.
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Increasing membership
Aileen Brown Strengthening a club’s membership with British Cycling With a lifelong love of cycling, Aileen Brown’s passion has helped her to transform the fortunes of Bath Cycling Club since becoming the club’s membership secretary. Aileen joined a club that was keenly run by a committee of members, who “were willing to give up their time to support anyone,” but as time went on, the club was ultimately struggling to attract new, younger riders. As an active member, Aileen was asked to take on the role of club membership secretary and her increased involvement, together with the support of other new younger members, has helped support a change in approach and breathe new life into the club. Things have changed rapidly for Bath CC, as the club now has one retiree on the committee (the president) and has adapted its approach to attract new riders to the club. The result has been a doubling in club female membership in the past year. Total membership has also increased significantly with numbers now standing at over 200. More visibly, the proportion of active members who are women has increased three-fold too. According to Aileen, “Membership is increasing year-on-year, the average age of the membership is falling and we have more family members.” These trends reflect what is happening at British Cycling, where membership is at a record high thanks to the good work of volunteers like Aileen.
Bath CC now has a new ethos when it comes to club rides, and Aileen is confident that this new approach has helped stimulate growth. “The introduction of shorter social rides has been key. Our mantra is to start together, finish together and look forward to riding together the next week, ie nobody gets left behind or feels intimidated. “The club has introduced tailored rides, with a more social focus where rides are led at a pace where riders can chat all the way. I meet lots of lovely like-minded people who all seem to have a positive outlook on life. It’s a great way to see the countryside and an efficient way to. “It’s a way of life, a wonderful way of life!”
In the past two years we have witnessed the highest rate of female membership growth; increasing from 9,500 to 16,000. Female members now make up 16% of British Cycling’s overall membership, a 1.5% increase over the same time period. Ride membership is the most popular category for female members, growing at a higher rate than men’s and now accounts for 51% of current female members.
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Maryam Amatullah Challenging beliefs and inspiring others
Keen to encourage her daughter to enjoy some fun and fresh air Maryam Amatullah started riding her bike regularly five years ago. In her own words, Maryam felt ‘odd’ when she first started cycling wearing the hijab, but this was just the start of an incredible journey for her, which has led to national recognition. “I decided to get into cycling as I thought it would be a great activity that my daughter and I could enjoy together. It’s just such an accessible activity. You don’t need any fancy equipment, all you need is two wheels and away you go. I enjoyed it so much and immediately started looking for more ways to get involved.” When British Cycling launched its Breeze Network in 2011 Maryam was immediately keen to get involved. Now a Breeze Champion, Maryam supports and inspires many women across Leicester who might not otherwise have considered getting on a bike. She also leads local rides for British Cycling’s Sky Ride programme. Maryam said: “I hope that my own story will inspire many more women to take up cycling whether it be for sport or commuting. One of my passions is to challenge the belief still held by many that cycling is not an appropriate hobby or mode of transport for women.
“I’m very passionate about voicing the need for provision for women, especially in the Asian community and offer as much support as I can to every single woman I come across who is hoping to get involved in the sport.” In addition to all this, Maryam regularly delivers adult cycle training and supports the temporary bike parks that British Cycling manages to promote its programmes. Maryam’s fantastic work was recognised recently at the first British Ethnic Diversity Sports Awards where she picked up the award in the Unsung Hero category, which was presented to her by Helen Grant, the minister for Sport, Tourism and Equalities. “I was honoured and humbled to receive that award. There are so many great examples of people who volunteer in sport, and particularly cycling, so to be singled out for praise is something I was extremely proud of.”
In 2014, British Cycling’s 1,124 Breeze Champions delivered nearly 6,000 rides attended by over 27,000 participants.
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Commuting and campaigning – Academic and advocate
Dr Rachel Aldred Making real progress to transform Britain into a true cycling nation Senior Lecturer in Transport at the University of Westminster and one of the most respected and knowledgeable women in cycling research, Dr Aldred’s work to demonstrate the benefits of investing in cycling has helped British Cycling to influence decision makers at the top of national and local government. By influencing the government to invest in cycling and give it the priority it deserves, British Cycling – along with other sustainable transport organisations – is leading the charge to make cycling more accessible and attractive for all people. Dr Aldred recently conducted the first survey on how adults’ views on cycle infrastructure change where children are present and has led new analysis on age and gender equity in cycle commuting, leading to the conclusion that we need to focus more on the needs and preferences of under-represented groups (including women) or we risk building for a limited existing demographic. Commenting on British Cycling’s women’s strategy, Dr Aldred said: “We know that millions of women are put off cycling because they simply don’t feel safe. The truth is that the roads are still not designed with cycling in mind and – by clearly showing politicians the value and benefits of prioritising it as a legitimate transport option – academics and advocates are making some real progress towards our aim of transforming Britain into a true cycling nation.
“Culture change cannot happen overnight but now for the first time the government has a legal obligation to come up with an investment strategy for cycling. Community and citizen support for cycling will be crucial in changing words into reality.”
Our #ChooseCycling campaign influences local and national government to improve transport infrastructure for cycling. Almost one in three female members cite this campaign as a reason to join British Cycling. Currently, 50% of female cyclists state that fear of traffic is a barrier to cycling more often, but we know that safety fears are allayed as an individual cycles more frequently.
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Looking ahead
Through this two-year update, we are confident that we have outlined clear, tangible progress in our aims to get one million more women cycling by 2020. The work continues though, and in 2015 our aims include the following highlights: • Firstly it’s a call to any brand wishing to support women’s cycling. With all the new opportunities to engage more women and girls in cycling as demonstrated by this report and case studies, we will be seeking more support and investment from new sponsors to further build on what’s been achieved so far.
• The Go-Ride Racing programme will shine a spotlight on racing for girls by encouraging Go-Ride Clubs to deliver girls-only races at their events. British Cycling will support them by promoting the events on its calendar and providing additional prizes and resources to help host events.
• Our communications will continue to highlight the increasing opportunities for women to get involved in all areas of our sport.
• We will continue to work with Women In Sport to conduct qualitative research to better understand cycling habits and perceptions of British Cycling membership. This insight will help refine marketing messages to enable us to attract more women to our sport.
• We will continue to expand our national presence in 2015 by working alongside the home nations, in particular through the roll out of Breeze across Wales in partnership with Welsh Cycling and Sport Wales. We will also be seeking ways to grow women’s participation with Scottish Cycling. • We will prioritise working with national partners, in particular utilising our new partnership with Halfords, to extend our reach and help grow female participation. • In 2015 we plan to grow the number of Breeze Challenge events to three building upon the success of the 2014 pilot events. • An enhanced Women’s Tour for 2015 will include extended stage lengths to improve the quality of racing and the overall reach of the event.
• We will leverage the Sport England’s national women’s participation campaign This Girl Can to encourage more women to consider and engage in cycling. • With the primary objective of increasing female membership, we are planning to launch a marketing campaign later this year. • We will continue to work with our Local Authority partners and other key stakeholders to support the growth of cycling for women and girls to ride and race. Over 110 Local Authorities partner British Cycling in our 2020 ambition
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If you would like to get involved in making women’s cycling more accessible, please contact: weride@britishcycling.org.uk For more information on any of British Cycling’s programmes, please visit: britishcycling.org.uk/about
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In the past two years British Cycling has directly influenced over
254,000
more women to cycle
one 185,000 in four Now, only
Since March 2014
more women have started cycling regularly
women stop cycling
British Cycling has seen a
In 2013, 12% of trained commissiares were female – this has
22%
increase in female coaches trained since March 2014
25%
of Level 1 and Level 2 Coaches
currently being trained by British Cycling are female Ride membership accounts for
51% of current female members
Over
4,000
women hold a British Cycling race licence
regularly once they have started, compared to one in three in 2013
increased to 15% to date
In the past two years British Cycling’s female membership has increased
from 9,500 to 16,000
Female members make up
16%
of British Cycling’s overall membership
The number of female race licence holders has risen by
53%
over the last two years
British Cycling Stuart Street Manchester M11 4DQ T: +44 (0) 161 274 2000 E: weride@britishcycling.org.uk britishcycling.org.uk