Kirklees inclusive cycling group celebrates £185,000 National Lottery boost

People with disabilities and in vulnerable situations in West Yorkshire can continue accessing inclusive cycling, thanks to a £185,000 National Lottery boost to local charity Streetbikes.

The group is one of 300 charities and community groups across Yorkshire and Humberside which has been awarded a share of more than £13 million by The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest community funder in the UK, over the last three months.*

Streetbikes in Kirklees provides cycling activities and services to marginalised people regardless of their ability and background. The group gives participants a safe space to meet and connect with others, helping to improve their physical and mental wellbeing and reduce isolation.

Tamara, who has been blind since birth, has been a regular at Streetbikes since 2013. With the help of the project’s volunteers, she has mastered cycling and celebrates the impact Streetbikes has had on her mental health.

Tamara said: “I was feeling down after volunteering at a children’s centre, then I started coming here. I didn’t know how to ride a bike before. A volunteer taught me how to ride the tandem and I was quite scared as I had never ridden a bike during childhood. I started to ride and I didn’t look back.

“It’s been great. It’s increased my confidence and made me stronger. I enjoy meeting people, chatting to the volunteers and you make good friendships. It’s great because it’s inclusive, anybody can ride and take part.”

With sessions based at the Spen Valley Athletics Track, Streetbikes offers participants the use of adapted and non-adapted bikes to meet a range of needs, with equipment such as hand cycles, tandems and tricycles available. The group also provides volunteering opportunities and a recycle bike shop which donates unwanted bikes, or sells them at affordable prices to the community, helping to make cycling more accessible and reduce waste going to landfill.

Sam, a volunteer at Streetbikes, said: “Thanks to National Lottery players, we’re able to fund the project’s outreach work that goes out there to those who are silent and vulnerable. The people we don’t see, and we very often don’t hear about. They’re the people that need to be coming down here to see what we can do to empower their lives. A huge thank you to The National Lottery Community Fund.”

The National Lottery Community Fund has four key missions, which are to support communities to come together, be environmentally sustainable, help children and young people thrive and enable people to live healthier lives.

Joe Dobson, Head of Funding for Yorkshire and Humberside at The National Lottery Community Fund, said: “We’re delighted that local groups are using our funding to strengthen communities and improve lives in our region. Their passion, creativity and commitment are making a real difference to local people’s lives, and this deserves recognition.

“Thanks to the ongoing support of National Lottery players, our ambition is to invest most in places, people and communities experiencing poverty, disadvantage and discrimination – and we welcome new applications that will help us respond to the diverse needs of different communities.”

The National Lottery Community Fund will distribute at least £4 billion by 2030, supporting activities that create resilient communities that are more inclusive and environmentally sustainable. See its new strategy, ‘It starts with community’ to find out more.

National Lottery players raise over £30 million a week for good causes across the UK. Thanks to them, last year The National Lottery Community Fund was able to distribute over half a billion pounds (£615.4 million) of life-changing funding to communities.

To find out more visit www.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk

Date published: 17 October, 2023
Region: England (Yorkshire and the Humber)

Notes to Editors

* These figures are for funding awarded from 1^st July – 29^th September 2023.

About The National Lottery Community Fund

We are the largest non-statutory community funder in the UK – community is at the heart of our purpose, vision and name.

We support activities that create resilient communities that are more inclusive and environmentally sustainable and that will strengthen society and improve lives across the UK.

We’re proud to award money raised by National Lottery players to communities across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and to work closely with Government to distribute vital grants and funding from key Government programmes and initiatives.

As well as responding to what communities tell us is important to them, our funding is focused on four key missions, supporting communities to:

1. Come together

2. Be environmentally sustainable

3. Help children and young people thrive

4. Enable people to live healthier lives.

Thanks to the support of National Lottery players, we distribute around £500 million a year through 10,000+ grants and plan to invest over £4bn of funding into communities by 2030. We’re privileged to be able to work with the smallest of local groups right up to UK-wide charities, enabling people and communities to bring their ambitions to life.

National Lottery players raise over £30 million each week for good causes throughout the UK. Since The National Lottery began in 1994, £47 billion has been raised and more than 670,000 individual grants have been made across the UK - the equivalent of around 240 National Lottery grants in every UK postcode district.

Website │Twitter │Facebook │Instagram