Bike provision
The pilot projects used different methods for providing a young person with a bike. Broadly, the approaches included:
- bike fleets
- bike libraries, loans or free subscription services
- ownership – with a condition the bike is returned when no longer needed
- ownership – for the young person to keep
- mixed – trying a range of approaches
| Project | Fleet | Loan | Ownership - return | Ownership - keep |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Angus Re-Cycles | No | No | Yes | No |
| Barnardo's Gearing Up | No | No | No | Yes |
| Bike for Good | No | Yes | No | No |
| Clackmannanshire Bike Buddies | No | No | No | Yes |
| Cycling Friendly Secondary Schools | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Equality Cycles | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| I Bike | Yes | Yes | exploration | exploration |
| Pedal Up Shetland | No | No | Yes | No |
| Rock Up and Ride | Yes | No | No | Yes |
Some of the projects offering ownership options also had the opportunity or requirement for young people to return the bike if they grew out of it or it was no longer needed. The Rock Up and Ride project largely involved ownership options, but also included a pilot adaptive bike library at one location.
Discussion with project leads highlighted advantages of each approach. Projects using an ownership model felt it supported young people to develop responsibility and to feel trusted. Those using a loan model felt it encouraged ongoing engagement and longer term relationships with the children and young people. A few projects indicated that they selected an ownership approach as it was simpler and their organisation was not set up to manage a lending system.
Projects welcomed the focus on learning.
It feels very positive. The process to date has felt very positive, solutions based and flexible. What is so refreshing is that there is no right, or wrong answer and the wrong answers will result in the right outcome. - Project lead
Range of wider support
In addition to providing bikes, bike equipment and maintenance services, the projects also aimed to undertake a wide range of additional activities. All of the projects aimed to ensure that young people accessing bikes had cycle training and safety advice, so that they were able to use their bike safely.
| Project | Link to Bikeability | Wider cycle training | Fun cycle sessions/ led rides | Maintenance skills |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Angus Re-Cycles | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Barnardo's Gearing Up | No | 6 weeks | Yes | Yes |
| Bike for Good | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Clackmannanshire Bike Buddies | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Cycling Friendly Secondary Schools | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Equality Cycles | Yes | Travel Hub | Yes | Yes |
| I Bike | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Pedal Up Shetland | Yes | No | No | No |
| Rock Up and Ride | No | 4 weeks | Yes | No |
Some projects offered maintenance skills development classes for children and young people, and some offered fun cycle sessions like led cycles and group cycle opportunities. One of the projects (Rock Up and Ride) involved creating a safe cycle space for young people to develop their skills. A few projects also incorporated cycle leader training (for adults and teenagers) into the project.
Partners
Each pilot has a lead organisation, and works in partnership with a wide range of organisations including cycling organisations, schools, community groups, bike providers and other third and public sector organisations.
| Project | Lead Organisation | Partners |
|---|---|---|
| Angus Re-Cycles | Angus Cycle Hub | Angus Council, Dundee City Council, Urban Foresight and third sector partners |
| Barnardo's Gearing Up | Forth Environment Link | Barnardo's, Recyke-a-Bike |
| Bike for Good | Bike for Good | Active Schools, targeted schools, Motion Forward Ltd |
| Clackmannanshire Bike Buddies | Forth Environment Link | Clackmannanshire Council, Active Clacks, Recyke-a-Bike and community groups |
| Cycling Friendly Secondary Schools | Cycling Scotland | Adventure Aberdeen, CamGlen Bike Town, Velocity, Bike for Good, community groups |
| Equality Cycles | St Paul's Youth Forum | Royston Regeneration Strategy Group, Glasgow City Council, schools, Active Schools, Police Scotland, Rosemount Development Trust, |
| I Bike | Sustrans | Cycling Scotland, West Lothian Council, Dumfries and Galloway Council, Aberdeenshire Council, Nestrans, Active Schools, Learning for Sustainability School Network |
| Pedal Up Shetland | Shetland Islands Council | Anchor Project, Ability Shetland, Shetland Bike Project, ZetTrans |
| Rock Up and Ride | Scottish Cycling | Local cycling clubs, local authorities, Active Schools, local schools, community groups, Frog Bikes |
Partnership was important factor for most of the pilots. Broadly, project leads and partners spoke positively about their experiences of working in partnership in the project.
It’s been good. We’ve been pretty open and honest with each other and we’re able to share and learn. They’ve been pretty open, honest and receptive. - Project partner
Working with partners has also helped to share and build skills within organisations. For example, one partner felt that the pilot had provided a positive experience for club coaches, who were delivering the activity. It gave them a chance to work with a different demographic, which they found quite fulfilling. It also helped them build confidence working with a different audience.
To help manage partnerships, some projects developed service level agreements. Although developing the agreements took time, the project leads felt that it would lead to more effective delivery, as roles and responsibilities would be clearly set out.
A few project leads noted that agreements, responsibilities and finances needed to be carefully negotiated between the key delivery partners as the application process had been quick and there had not been time to discuss this in detail prior to submitting the application. Others noted that they did not have formal agreements or contracts. However, most projects had an understanding with partners about their needs, and maintained regular written communication.
Example: Rock Up and Ride
Scottish Cycling’s Rock Up and Ride pilot project involves delivering bikes through eight existing cycling facilities and cycling communities across Scotland – including cycling clubs, schools and community groups. In particular, the project involves close partnership working with existing or newly created cycling clubs at each location. There are partnership agreements in place with each club.
Funding
The funding awarded to the pilot projects from August 2021 to August 2022 varied from just over £50,000 to £934,000. This range reflected the large variety in projects in terms of volume, approaches, target groups, number of sites and wider activities. Following the application and funding award stage, additional funding was provided across the projects to ensure access to adaptive bikes following the withdrawal of the tenth pilot which focused on adaptive bike provision.
| Project | Capital funding | Resource funding | Total Aug 21 to Aug 22 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 21 to Aug 22 | Aug 21 to Aug 22 | ||
| Angus Re-Cycles | £159,218 | £331,088 | £490,306 |
| Barnardo's Gearing Up | £40,800 | £19,336 | £60,136 |
| Bike for Good | £128,304 | £161,789 | £290,093 |
| Clackmannanshire Bike Buddies | £169,000 | £43,128 | £212,178 |
| Cycling Friendly Secondary Schools | £150,000 | £118,000 | £268,000 |
| Equality Cycles | £255,910 | £90,969 | £346,879 |
| I Bike | £261,837 | £22,500 | £284,337 |
| Pedal Up Shetland | £46,400 | £13,500 | £59,900 |
| Rock Up and Ride | £464,000 | £133,040 | £597,040 |
| Total | £1,675,469 | £933,350 | £2,608,869 |
In addition, and not included in the above costs, Transport Scotland responded to the interim evaluation through providing a sum of £200,000 for pilots to buy storage such as bike covers or cycle tents to support participants to store bikes outdoors.
Continuity funding was then awarded in July 2022 to enable each of the pilots to continue their activities through to March 2023.