Capital of Cycling 
We were immensely proud to travel to Birmingham the other weekend to receive an award from Olympic gold medallist Chris Boardman. We took the opportunity to grab a few pictures of Chris by our banners! We were also pleased to meet Lee Craigie who is a highly accomplished Cyclo-Cross champion who is now inspiring girls to get on their bikes and cycle our into the hills. She is pictured with the bike in the pictures below.
The award was presented to us by Cycling UK, the national cycling charity, in recognition of our “Cycling to Sanctuary” project during which we were able to gift over 100 bikes to asylum seekers and refugees in Bradford – many of whom have since been volunteering with us, giving something back by fixing bikes for local kids and more. Bradford Bikery’s community bike project, joining forces with Capital of Cycling provided practical help and support to asylum seekers and refugees in Bradford with Big Bike Revival funding, and with the Margaret Carey Foundation supplying recycled bikes, refurbished in prison workshops.
We were also acknowledged for providing group activities, bike repair and organised rides for local people, giving people a positive experience and helping them integrate into the local community. Dave Robison said, “Our volunteers give a lot to the project but also get a lot back – it helps them to integrate if, for example, they’re refugees. The local volunteers look on them in a different light and see them as people with useful skills to offer, rather than a drain on resources. Some of the people we work with are in transport poverty and can’t even afford bus fares so having access to a bike helps them get around and also helps them to stay fit and healthy.”
Chris Boardman (pictured above with one of our volunteers) is now the Cycling Commissioner for Greater Manchester, a very high-profile job, so of course we took the opportunity to take some cheeky snaps of him next to our banners!
You can find more about the awards event and the other winners here.
