Cycling UK Saltcoats
I was pleased to attend Cycling UK’s showcase event at Saltcoats Town Hall to catch up with Programme Manager, Dr Emily Ryder and celebrate the wider walking, cycling and wheeling activity currently underway in Ayrshire.
The purpose of the event was to hear about Cycling UK’s Connecting Communities projects around Scotland, to learn about their Cycle Access Fund, and from people in Ayrshire who have benefitted from the funding.
I encourage all organisations in my constituency to consider applying for the latter Fund which supports those least likely to have access to a bike and provides capital grants to organisations through five different funding strands.
It allows a wide range of organisations to apply and provides a variety of opportunities for individuals to benefit from the Fund.
Enabling individuals to access a bike in an affordable, easy, and convenient way is a vital contribution to reducing health and income inequality.
It makes our communities safer and more pleasant by reducing short car journeys as many people in Scotland experience barriers to accessing a cycle and, by offering their funding across different strands, Cycling UK aim to tackle different barriers and help more people cycle.
The five funding strands are:
• Individual Bike Ownership
• Shared Use
• Recycle
• Repair
• Cycle parking and storage
Funding awarded in North Ayrshire so far in 2025 is £21,755.44 which includes two organisations (Equal Supported Employment in North Ayrshire and Mapes of Millport) through the ‘recycle’ strand – they are funded to provide refurbished bikes to members of their community who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford a cycle.
Mapes also has funding through the ‘repair’ strand, whereby they provide subsidised repairs to members of the community who couldn’t afford to fix their bike otherwise. They report 16 repairs completed since receiving the funding in July.
The rest of the funding has been utilised by North Ayrshire Tandem Cycling Club to purchase two new electric tandems for use by their members. I was also pleased to hear that since the event on Monday, Cycling UK has received two further applications from attendees.
More information on the Fund can be found here: