FEATURE
DIVERSITY CHAMPION T
“I was working at the National Cycling Centre, teaching
BMX, managing the outdoor BMX track, working in schools, teaching cycle proficiency, learn to ride, and balance bike sessions,” she explained. “I kind of fell into bike mechanics. I was working with bikes
quite a lot. Obviously with bikes, they go wrong “I worked with 99.9% guys and when I was asking them
20 | April 2024
Bee Pedal Ready is a community interest charity that provides a safe space, primarily for women, to learn, repair and ride bikes. Daniel Blackham speaks to founder Belinda Everett
he bike mechanic landscape is largely made up of white males. Depending on the industry data you look at, some have that figure as high as
96% of the workforce. Belinda Everett, founder of Bee Pedal Ready, is one of the many women aiming to change the sector – and for the better. Her organisation hosts confidence building workshops and events, along with women-only bike maintenance workshops across Manchester, in Rusholme, Levenshulme, Fallowfield, Old Trafford, and Oldham. Like many, Everett’s start in the cycling industry was more by chance than design.
‘how do I fix it’, generally, the response was ‘it’s alright i’ll sort it’. So it really came off the back of that. I thought ‘ok, I’m going to have to teach myself’.” From there, Everett volunteered at a local bike shop – and the seeds of Bee Pedal Ready had been sown. “I liked how I felt when I was fixing bikes, you’re really in the moment,” she said. “Getting into the bike mechanic industry felt a bit like the 1940s. It was a bit of a shock with the lack of female representation.
“Is it that women don’t want to fix bikes or is it that there’s just nothing there at the minute to allow them to learn? That’s where Bee Pedal Ready was formed.”
With some financial support from Sport England, Everett
started doing the bike maintenance workshops and group rides. From there, it’s grown from strength to strength. “In my heart, I knew that there was a market for it,” she
added. “When I was working at the local bike shop, I was having
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