This is a trade facing website. Visit the ACT's consumer site thecyclingexperts.co.uk for information and advice on cycling and find your local independent cycle retailer.

Search News

Results: 31-40 of 850


2 Apr 2025

WorkNest has provided ACT members with essential resources covering statutory employment rates and the upcoming Employment Rights Bill, with the updates aimed at helping independent...

1 Apr 2025

Bira has voiced serious concerns over the latest figures from the BRC-NIQ Shop Price Index for March 2025.

26 Mar 2025

ACT parent company Bira has said the Chancellor's Spring Statement delivered today has failed to address the "perfect storm" of cost pressures facing independent retailers across the UK,...

25 Mar 2025

ACT parent company Bira has outlined its key priorities ahead of the Chancellor's Spring Budget statement.

24 Mar 2025

Activate Cycle Academy has delivered a five-day bespoke training course to help Metropolitan Police officers to crack down on illegal e-bikes.

21 Mar 2025

UK cycle industry trade bodies the Bicycle Association (BA) and Association of Cycle Traders (ACT) have issued a joint message to cycle retailers who may be considering fitting e-bike conversion...

20 Mar 2025

Businesses and individuals that have signed up to the E-Bike Positive retailer safety pledge are urged by the ACT share pictures of the in-store campaign assets in action with the association.

20 Mar 2025

Cytech, the internationally recognised training and accreditation scheme for bicycle mechanics, have partnered with Bristol-based charity Life Cycle to offer a range of bicycle mechanic...

19 Mar 2025

A lot of cycling retailers would consider managing inventory the most crucial aspect of running a shop, investing significant effort and time into keeping on top of stock. However, high street...

Back to news menu

Cycling to work linked with better mental health

Posted on in Business News , Cycles News

An  analysis of almost 380,000 people living in Scotland suggests that commuting by bike reduces the risk of mental ill-health.

City cycling

While previous research suggests cycling to work benefits peoples’ mental wellbeing, most studies have involved small numbers of participants and self-reported measures of mental health.

Now, University of Edinburgh researchers combined data for 378,253 people aged 16-74 from the 2011 Scottish census with NHS prescription records for the following five years.

The people included in the study lived and worked in Edinburgh or Glasgow, stayed within around one mile of a cycle path and did not have any prescriptions for mental ill-health at the start of the study.

Researchers found a 15% reduction in prescriptions for depression or anxiety amongst cycle commuters in the five years after 2011 compared with non-cyclists. Commuting by bike led to greater reductions in mental health prescriptions in women than in men.

The team’s analysis also reveals that only around 2% of commuters in Glasgow cycled to work, with just under 5% doing so in Edinburgh. Men were more likely than women to ride a bike to work.

The findings provide further evidence of the importance of promoting active travel and investing in infrastructure to encourage more people to commute by bike, the team says.

The study, published in The International Journal of Epidemiology, was funded by the Economic and Social Science Research Council (ESRC) through Administrative Data Research (ADR) Scotland.

Back to news menu

Useful links

If you have any other queries please contact us.