That’s a wrap! End of year reflections

A full year at Women on Wheels and what a year it has been!

Festive Festivals

In the run up to the UCI Cycling Championships coming to Glasgow we ran another 2 women’s cycling festivals. One in March to celebrate International Women’s Day engaging with 117 and another in July where we opened our arms to women and families of Govanhill and beyond and had interaction with 378 people.

Awards

Our founder Shgufta received “Visionary Champion of the Year 2023” by Cycling Scotland, Scottish Cycling, Cycling UK and Sustrans and also became Bicycle Mayor of Glasgow - a global network - find out more here  (BYCS | BYCS)

Funding kicks off Families Programme

We received funding from Paths for All for our families programme and partnered with Rock Up and Ride (Scottish Cycling) in March, who gave us free bikes, a container and accessories. With this funding we recruited Katherine Cory (of Shawlands Bike Bus fame) as our Families Coordinator in May and very quickly launched our families programme. We started with cycle lessons, led rides and bike loans for families and shortly after launched maintenance classes.

Developing the Women’s Programme

Holly progressed the Women’s programme and delivered multiple weekly cycle lessons and led rides. We developed these into a star rating system to progress women at any stage (read more about the ratings here). We included a regular slot for new Scots where booking and payment was not a requirement in order to get asylum seekers and new migrant women and families cycling. 

Getting into mechanics

Our maintenance classes went from strength to strength and we delivered them weekly rotating a tried and tested 5-week programme covering:

• Puncture repairs

• Emergency roadside repair

• Cleaning and lubrication

• V-brakes

• Gears

Most of these were fully booked all year round. We also trialled intermediate sessions covering build your own bike maintenance with some budding mechanics.

Heading out on overnight adventures

We delivered a multi-prong touring programme taking new tourers to the Kelpies and back with an overnight stay in Falkirk (twice) and also progressing one group to cycle to the Isle of Bute and back (again staying overnight at a campsite on a very steep hill).  

Acknowledgement from politicians

Patrick Harvie, Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenants' Rights, is fast becoming a regular and has popped in to see us again this year, admiring our work.

Linking up with community groups

We worked with many community groups getting women and families cycling such as Queens Cross Housing Association, Bonnie Boots, Aamina Muslim Women’s  Resource Centre’s friendship group, Daisy Chain to name a few.

Going off grid

We delivered a 10-week mountain biking and cycling block at Pollok Country Park. We have also run 4 mountain biking taster sessions at Endura Lifecycle Centre, getting more than 30 women on mountain bikes for the first time and having lots of muddy fun at the same time.  

Teaming up with primary schools

We got families cycling via partnerships with Ibrox Primary School and Shawlands Bike Bus, enabling families to learn and build their cycling skills together. 

Learning to Build a Bike from scratch

We worked in partnership with Common Wheel to support 5 women through their 12-week 'Build A Bike' workshop resulting in 5 bikes being built from scratch that the women could take home and ride themselves.

Training trainers

We held a number of training courses getting 14 volunteers trained up as Ride Leaders and Cycle Trainers and also upskilling our sessional staff in best practices and route planning. 

Part of something bigger

We were delighted to have a stand at Glasgow Green during the UCI Cycling World Championships - delivering skills sessions to families and encouraging cycling as a daily activity. We also led rides to some of the UCI events, supporting more women to engage with the championships and inspire them to cycle more in their own lives. 

Taking a stance

We partnered with Parents for Future Scotland and Kidical Mass to help families join the campaign for safer streets & climate action delivered through family-friendly rides.

In one year, we have worked with 452 women and 47 families by:

* teaching them to cycle

* getting them confident on a led ride

* encouraging active travel through route navigation and bike buddy support

* upskilling them through beginners maintenance classes covering puncture repairs etc.

* attending events such as bike touring, speaker or film nights.

We really could not have done it without the support from our community and especially our funders and give thanks to everyone of them!

Next year is EVEN more exciting so watch this space to find out what we will be up to!