Chief of Government cycling programme calls for national Action on cycle access
Posted on in Cycles News
Urgent, collective action is needed to improve children’s access to bikes as “too many are being left behind”, according to Bikeability Trust chief executive Emily Cherry.
Speaking to BikeBiz, Cherry pointed to data from the National Travel Surveys showing that one in four children aged 5–10 in the UK do not have access to their own bicycle.
“It’s not that children don’t want to cycle anymore,” she said. “It’s that they simply don’t have access—and without access, they can’t learn, enjoy, or grow with cycling.”
Cherry, who took over the Bikeability Trust in 2020, has led a wide-reaching transformation of the programme, improving its delivery and preparing for a longer-term shift in strategy.
Cherry said: “We’ve gone through this big period of transformation. So now it’s time for us to think longer term—what are the big issues that prevent more children and families from taking up cycling?”
The Trust’s new 2035 plan sets out to address those issues, focusing not just on cycle training but on tackling barriers like affordability, social inequalities, and road safety concerns.
Among the biggest challenges, Cherry said, are parental fears about traffic, a lack of safe infrastructure, the optional nature of Bikeability in schools, instructor shortages, and, critically, access to cycles.
Bikeability is currently delivered in about 80% of primary schools, but since it’s not part of the national curriculum, headteachers can opt out.
“The culture wars have had quite a significant impact on parents’ views and fears about allowing their children to go out onto the road,” she said.
We’re working at scale to make sure that no child leaves primary school without one of our training courses to get out there.”
The Trust’s Fleet Cycles project, which won a 2024 BikeBiz Cycle Advocacy Award, aims to ensure children without bikes can still take part in training.
“In 2023, we bought just shy of 1,000 cycles… those 1,000 bikes were used 16,000 times,” Cherry added. “But it breaks my heart that I’ve got to take that bike back.”
To go further, Bikeability will launch a public fundraising appeal to fund bikes that children can keep, with plans to partner with the cycling industry.
Cherry also called for the removal of VAT on children’s bikes to help ease financial pressure on families.
“Our goal is to make sure every child, no matter their background, gets the joy, freedom and independence that comes with cycling,” said Cherry.