OPINION


CYCLING UK’S BIG BIKE REVIVAL: TEN YEARS OF TRANSFORMING LIVES THROUGH CYCLING


This year, Cycling UK’s Big Bike Revival celebrates its 10th anniversary. James Scott, Director of Behaviour Change and Development at Cycling UK discusses ways in which government funding for active travel can transform lives.


H


ave you ever talked to non-cycling friends or family about everything that cycling does with a near


evangelical zeal, only to be met with faces that look indifferent, eyes glazing over, and you can almost hear their thoughts – “Yes, but the cost…Yes, but is it safe…? Yes, but I’m too old… Yes, but…Yes, but…” How people change their behaviours, and why, is a complex field. But we have team members who have been doing it for years. At Cycling UK, our mission is to get more people


cycling long-term through our Behaviour Change team programmes across the UK. This year, one of these programmes celebrates its tenth year and its proven just how impactful cycling can be. Cycling UK’s Big Bike Revival was launched in 2015 as a short-term campaign aimed at restoring old cycles and encouraging more people to get on bikes. What began as a simple campaign to breathe new life into forgotten bikes has since evolved to reshape perceptions of cycling safety, break down social and cultural barriers, and inspire hundreds of thousands of individuals each year to integrate cycling into their daily routines for short, local journeys.


The strength of this programme is firmly


rooted in community action. Although commissioned with government money through Active Travel England, the programme is delivered by Cycling UK in partnership with local community groups, with over a thousand having taken part to date. It has a powerful focus on inclusivity— reaching people where they are and showing them that cycling can be for everyone. By fixing up forgotten bikes, teaching essential skills, and building confidence, The Big


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‘THE BIG BIKE REVIVAL HAS HELPED OVER 600,000 PEOPLE (THE EQUIVALENT TO THE POPULATION OF BRISTOL) REDISCOVER A SUSTAINABLE,


HEALTHY, AND AFFORDABLE WAY TO GET AROUND.’


Bike Revival has helped over 600,000 people (the equivalent to the population of Bristol) rediscover a sustainable, healthy, and affordable way to get around. Shaped by behavioural science and


drawing on the COM-B model—the Programme identifies that for a behaviour to occur, people need the Capability,


Opportunity, and Motivation to do so. This ensures we are not just getting people on bikes once, but supporting them more long-term, to build sustained cycling behaviour, which is good for


our economy, health and environment. By learning from its own outcomes year-on-year, the Big Bike Revival now more effectively targets barriers and enables change—resulting in greater impact, deeper community engagement, and cycling habits that stick. The social impacts are staggering-


£47.9m in savings to the health service, and £11.6m savings to employers from preventing absences. 10m shorter car journeys have been


avoided, saving over 9,000 tons of CO2 and other emissions being released. The evidence shows that for every £1 invested in the Big Bike Revival, there is £4.30 worth of benefits.


But beyond the numbers, it’s the personal stories and community impact that speak loudest. It’s about Yaz, in Hastings, who, brimming with newfound inspiration and confidence after a Big Bike Revival course, built her own bike from discarded parts and now rides to work, for errands, and peace of mind every day. Or the mums’ group in Manchester who connected and organised to cycle daily to the school gates as a ‘bike bus’. It’s about Mark, who dusted off a bike from his


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