As Glasgow gears up to host the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships, community groups have been given a share of more than £160,000 to boost bike use in the city.
Some 29 local organisations have been awarded funding from the Go Cycle Glasgow Fund for new initiatives that make cycling accessible for recreation, sport and active travel among minority groups.
Priority was given to groups working with young people, women, people with disabilities, low-income families and ethnic minorities with each receive awards of up to £10,000.
Annette Christie, chair of Glasgow Life, said she was "hugely impressed" by the "ambition and commitment" of the groups applying for funding.
She added: "This is another significant year for Glasgow as we prepare to be in the international spotlight, hosting five of the 13 Cycling World Championship events at venues across the city.
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"We have a strong track record of successfully hosting major international events and are renowned for giving visitors to our city such a warm welcome.
"However, even more importantly, we are committed to ensuring that the people of Glasgow get the opportunity to engage with the event and benefit long-term from enhanced opportunities for physical activity, health and wellbeing.
"I look forward to visiting many of these exciting projects over the coming months and seeing even more people out and about our wonderful and increasingly cycle-friendly city on bikes."
Glasgow Life, the arm's-length council organisation, has created the funding pot head of the city hosting the 11 day UCI World Championships, featuring thousands of the world’s best cyclists.
Additional funding has also been received from Clyde Gateway and Glasgow City Council’s Smarter Choices, Smarter Places, to support targeted activity.
Glasgow Afghan United Women's Empowerment Project, which provides specific services for more than 70 women in the north of the city, including many refugees and asylum seekers, was among the first recipients.
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Funding for additional bikes and safety equipment will enable more women to learn to ride and this will be expanded to include children and young people, so they can participate together as families.
There will be support for ongoing skills development for the new cyclists, with group rides increasing from weekly to twice per week, as well as cycle leader and bike maintenance training.
Glasgow Tandem Club aims to enable people with a vision impairment to enjoy the benefits of cycling through a regular programme of tandem cycling, which includes two organised runs per month of varying distances and difficulty up to 35 miles.
This award will be used to purchase two additional tandems to increase capacity, provide specialist mechanical support to maintain a safe tandem fleet, improve existing storage facilities and will also enable the club to continue with induction training for vision impaired and sighted members alike.
For 28 years the Castlemilk Youth Complex (CYC) has been the lead agency for youth work in one of the most deprived areas of Glasgow and, with support from the Go Cycle Glasgow Fund, they are looking to develop their Cyclewise initiative, which facilitates led rides, provides training and distributes refurbished bikes.
They plan to set up a bike cleaning and maintenance facility for the Cyclewise members and the wider public, to maintain their bikes and to form a focal point for the cycle community.
BMX will be one of the highlights of the UCI Cycling World Championships in the city and Glasgow-based charity Movement Park is planning to introduce up to 2000 local young people to the sport.
Niki Spence, Head of Sustainable Communities at Clyde Gateway, said: “We are thrilled to be able to contribute funding to the Go Cycle project.
"With active travel and health and wellbeing high on our agenda, this project will allow local community groups to develop new and exciting opportunities to get more people cycling.
"Clyde Gateway has an abundance of green spaces, many with designated pump and cycle tracks, which will hopefully encourage residents to get out on their bikes and enjoy their surroundings."
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