Ten Years of Legacy – celebrating the role of inclusive cycling
Our Festival of Inclusive Cycling this week is an important milestone for the team as it follows hot-on-the-heels of the ten year anniversary of the London 2012 Paralympics.
The festival is a moment to celebrate our lasting legacy as an advocate for inclusive cycling where we aim to inspire others and showcase the variety of all-inclusive cycling opportunities we have at our fingertips here at our headquarters on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
We believe there’s a cycling experience for everyone and I’m incredibly proud of the impact Bikeworks creates as a community evolved social enterprise. Each year we engage over 12,000 people through our cycle training and social cycling initiatives, not forgetting the accredited mechanics courses we run. Our inclusive community programme attracts over 3,000 disabled people and carers who access cycling for free, supporting physical activity, wellbeing and social isolation.
Later this year we’ll be launching our Inclusive Cycling Centre of Excellence, scaling our impact and creating the change we want to see.
Come and join us this Thursday, meet the team and see how cycling changes lives.
September is the final month for celebrating ten years of legacy since London hosted the 2012 Paralympic Games. It’s also the month we use to celebrate our birthday and say thank you to our team and supporters.
The creation of Bikeworks was born from the excitement of London winning the hosting rights for the 2012 Games, and the want to connect people who may be excluded from the opportunities the legacy would create. 16 years later we continue to deliver our vision as an inclusive cycling organisation, connecting people to the community assets of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
A key stakeholder the London Legacy Development Corporation has travelled the road with us over this past decade.
Paul Brickell, Executive Director of Regeneration and Community Partnerships at London Legacy Development Corporation comments:
“Bikeworks has served east Londoners with great distinction for ten years, their dedication and quality shone especially bright during the dark days of lockdown and remain inspirational for us.
We’re excited to be working with them and learning from them as they enter their next decade.”
In July this year, we received a letter of thanks for our role of tackling health inequalities from Sadiq Khan:
“The contribution Bikeworks has made to our city not just during the pandemic, but in its day-to-day work, is enormous. On behalf of all Londoners, thank you for supporting and empowering local communities across east London and beyond.”
Project in the pipeline
Later this year, we will launch the Bikeworks Inclusive Cycling Hub, a centre of excellence the space will be a visible hub on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. This marks a significant gear change for Bikeworks as we continue to explore innovative ways of using the bicycle for good.
We’ll be designing activities to better support the physical activity and wellbeing of people, providing an alternative solution to promoting good health by collaborating with external specialists, this will include the creation of physical rehabilitation and maintenance programmes, increasing access to our fleet of cycles and specialist advice, while providing an inclusive cycling shop, set in the inspiring spaces and outdoors of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
In his letter, Sadiq comments: “This will be a fantastic addition to the Park as it celebrates the 10th anniversary of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and I wish you every success with this endeavour.”
About the Festival of Inclusive Cycling
Come down to the Lee Valley VeloPark on Thursday 29th September to experience what Bikeworks is all about. We’ll have our All Ability Club try-outs, the Olympic BMX Track will be open, plus we’ll have a range of adapted cycles to have a go on.
It’s a great chance for everyone, beginners to advanced, to ride one of our adapted cycles at a world class venue.
Thanks for reading,
Zoe Portlock – Co-Founder, Bikeworks CIC
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Page 25: Bikeworks featured on Legacy document – 10 years on: our unique contribution to London 2012’s sporting legacy from the Lee Valley.