A guide to inclusive cycling

Document summary

Founded in 2007, Wheels for Wellbeing is an inclusive cycling charity based in Brixton, south London. We are a grassroots disability organisation, running five sessions a week at our three inclusive cycling hubs. Using any of our fleet of over 200 cycles (handcycles, tandems, tricycles, recumbents, wheelchair cycles, sideby-sides and bicycles) Disabled people of all ages discover or rediscover cycling, whilst enjoying its health and wellbeing benefits. Every year c.1,000 Disabled people, aged from 2 to 102, cycle at our hubs.A few years ago, we became increasingly frustrated by the fact that Disabled cyclists were mostly absent from the cycling debate. In 2013, The Mayor’s Vision for Cycling in London made no reference to Disabled cyclists’ existence, let alone their need for accessible cycling infrastructure or facilities. We decided we needed to speak up. We began with a presentation at a London Cycling Campaign Policy Forum seminar in 2014, where some of the ideas discussed in this guide were first developed. In 2016 we launched our Beyond the Bicycle manifesto at a parliamentary event, which was attended by MPs, local politicians, cycle traders and the media. Our objective then, as now, was to increase awareness of the fact that Disabled people can and do cycle; and to influence cycling infrastructure, facilities and representation so all of us can reach our full cycling potential. Fast forward to July 2020 and the UK government published Gear Change, a vision document and accompanying modernised cycle design guidance, (Local Transport Note 1/20), both of which have at their heart the principles of cycling accessibility and how to design for it. We are very proud to have become the UK’s leading campaigning organisation on behalf of Disabled cyclists and in so doing, to have stated to bring about tangible change for all