£135,000 of grants available to support cycling in West Yorkshire

A community grants fund is to be launched by go:cycling which will see £135,000 invested in voluntary and not-for-profit groups promoting cycling in West Yorkshire, reports the Halifax Courier.

£115,000 has been set aside for larger projects with a cost of between £5,000 and £25,000, while another £20,000 is available for small projects with costs of up to £2,000. The money is only available for projects targeted at adults, although family-centred projects will also be considered.

Go:cycling is the name for the West Yorkshire wide package of cycling promotion and training measures that is supported by the Department for Transport through the Local Sustainable Transport Fund. Its basic aim is to get more people in West Yorkshire cycling, more safely and more often.

The stated objectives of the project are: to enable people to take up cycling or to cycle more; to encourage people to use cycling in their day-to-day lives; to promote cycling as a fun activity that is accessible to all; to promote utility cycling (e.g. for commuting and running errands); and to promote and increase use of cycle infrastructure across West Yorkshire.

The basis for allocation of funding therefore reflects this. Money is available for any project likely to increase the level of cycling. This may involve training, whether cycle skills or bike maintenance; or promotional activities, such as efforts which raise awareness of local clubs or infrastructure. Group rides and other activities geared towards encouraging new cyclists are also mentioned, as are cycling-related arts and cultural activities. However, as the grants are one-offs, the future sustainability of any long-running projects will be a consideration.

Projects will be evaluated according to the quality of the project, the need and demand for it and to what extent it will deliver value for money. Applications can be made here with a closing date of May 31. Any funding granted must also be spent by 31st March 2016.

In July of last year, it was announced that West Yorkshire is to spend a portion of the £2.8 million it was granted from the Government’s Local Sustainable Transport Fund on supplying bikes to jobstarters who are coming off the dole and have no other way of getting to work. Money was also made available for cycle training to help parents ride to school with their children.