Fifteen months ago the Chairman of Leeds BMX Club recognised that there was a lack of access routes in to cycling, for the beginner or none cyclist and began to develop the Fearnville Bike Hub. After much research it was decided to set up a Community Interest Company called Cycle Pathway, which would act as the lead organisation.
Fearnville Bike Hub is situated in the Inner East area of Leeds, located at Fearnville Leisure Centre, LS8 3LF. The surrounding areas (Gipton, Harehills, Seacroft, Richmond Hill) all fall within the 10% most deprived nationally, with a higher than average health prevalence’s for a number of health conditions. The Sport England mapping data tool shows lower than average 1x30 minutes participation in the surrounding area, which is something the Bike Hub aims to work towards addressing.
The hub is ideally located for cycling development work, with direct off road access to the Wyke Beck Valley Way, which is a Leeds Core Cycle Network (LCCN) track. This allows safe off road cycling ideal for families, and those new to cycling developing their cycling confidence. This route leads to both Roundhay Park and Temple Newsam Park.
There are a number of traffic free spaces within the facility for activities, along with a hub pod which could provide information, advice and signposting opportunities to other cycling opportunities.
Approx. half a mile away, and accessible from the bike hub, by quiet roads or the LCCN route, is the new £30 million
City Connect Super Cycle highway which is currently under construction, which provides further opportunities for the
Hub to contribute to supporting the green travel agenda.
Cycle Pathway (Fearnville Bike Hub) became the first bike library in Yorkshire due to a successful funding application to Welcome to Yorkshire, receiving a significant amount of publicity.
It now has over 200 bikes that have been donated from individuals, schools and other organisations. Many of these have been repaired through the CIC maintenance programme, ready for hiring out later this year, which will provide a significant impact in terms of increasing cycling participation.
This year has seen a number of cycling initiatives taking place at the Hub with approximately 300 new participants.
This was delivered by the CIC and Go Cycling with support from other partners including British Cycling and the
Council’s Sport and Active Lifestyles Service. This includes:

BMX sessions for all ages

Adult drop in sessions

Cycle maintenance sessions

Adults Cycle For health

Adults skill sessions

Skyride local led family rides

Fearnville Bike Festival

Girls only Sportivate sessions
Leeds BMX Club also hosts an annual BC North Regional race which attracts around 300 riders of all ages and their families.

If we were to receive additional funding, then our proposal is to build on the current programme and to organise the following new activities:
1.
Launch event in October
2.
Family rides
3.
Women and girls rides (linked to Place Pilot Activator role)
4.
Positive Futures (NEETS) project
5.
Coach and Volunteer recruitment and training programme
6.
Bike maintenance workshops and bike repair surgeries
Target Market
We will focus on increasing adult participation 14+ in line with Sport England getting the inactive active, with a particular focus on women and girls (linking to the ‘This Girl Can’ Leeds campaign), targeting families in the areas of most need working with local community groups, British Cycling, Public Health and by linking into Leeds City
Council’s local area plans. We will also work with NEETS in conjunction with the Positive Futures team.
Staffing
This is a high priority area due to the new and wide ranging activities we intend to deliver. We will need more qualified cycle instructors, coaches and trained cycle mechanics who will lead sessions and encourage/mentor enthusiastic volunteers to support the activities. We will actively seek training opportunities and provide incentives for our volunteers so they can play a more intrinsic role in the project.
Marketing & Engagement
With extra support we intend to set up a new website, which we can signpost people to, using our existing network through Leeds City Council and our existing partners who we have been working with over the past year, including the Leeds Active Schools Network, Public Health, British Cycling, Go Cycling etc.
We also intend to increase awareness of the hub site by:

Increased awareness in the local community i.e. Posters, leaflet drops, banners

Social media and increased local media coverage

Attendance and promotion at local and citywide events

This Girl Can Leeds campaign

Improved on site signage
Number of users
At this stage it is difficult to provide exact numbers considering the project delivery period is October – March and many sessions could be affected by adverse weather conditions. However we will aim to provide the same level of opportunities for people to participate in the new cycling activities.
Sustainability
Increasing the number of coaches and volunteers will be a real priority for the bike hub to ensure we can provide a wide range of opportunities for all abilities and cope with the influx of new participants. We aim to do this working in partnership with British Cycling to identify relevant courses and by promoting coach opportunities through WYS and the BC website. In addition we hope to recruit new volunteers from the local community and by approaching the universities to link with their volunteering programmes for students. Volunteer opportunities will also be promoted through the’ Join In’ website and via Voluntary Action Leeds.
We believe another vital area for sustainability is the development of a bike maintenance programme. We are currently refurbishing a workshop to facilitate the programme, which we will run for the community but also look to education providers to buy in to the programmes and the qualifications and training we can provide.