“These are a great bunch of young people and you can really see their confidence grow and technical abilities progress with the short time they have been riding the bikes."

As part of its inclusive cycling outreach offer, Access Sport has delivered a series of 12 cycling sessions to multiple groups from Ark Greenwich Free School.

The students were between the ages of 13 and 14 and had varying confidence levels with riding a bike when they arrived. One key outcome achieved from the sessions was that everyone gained a greater understanding of the benefits of cycling.

“These are a great bunch of young people and you can really see their confidence grow and technical abilities progress with the short time they have been riding the bikes.”

The students had the opportunity to attend BMX cycling sessions at their local track, where they significantly improved their skills, confidence and ability on a bike. Within two sessions, students who came to the sessions unable to ride a bike, were already confident enough to go down the start hill. Furthermore, some students said that they wanted to ask their parents for a bike, so they could keep practising their skills on the track outside the sessions.

"Access Sport have been able to provide a safe and structured introduction to BMX. Progress is really really rapid, the students absolutely enjoy it and love the progress. - Teacher"

The sessions gave the students from Ark Greenwich Free School a positive experience cycling on a BMX track and have motivated many to come back to the track to enjoy cycling in their own time. All students have unlimited access to the track outside of the sessions, with the option of attending facilitated sessions which occur fortnightly on a Saturday.