The Big Bike Revival delivery partner FAQs

By Susan Keywood
We've compiled a list of Frequently Asked Questions for delivery partners and hope these will help answer some queries.

Who is The Big Bike Revival for?

The target audience is adults who are either not currently cycling or cycling less frequently, in general  once a month or less. Children can join events but only if accompanied by a participating adult, ideally one child per adult. Adults might for example be keen to learn how to cycle the school run or encourage their family to cycle as an economic and healthy way to travel for local journeys.

When is The Big Bike Revival funding window open?

Application for The Big Bike Revival funding is now open until 14 July 2025 (subject to change). 

What is the programme aiming to achieve?  

In general, to increase the number of short, local journeys made by bike for practical transport reasons. The aims include increasing the number of adults who cycle, encouraging adults who don’t cycle to start, encouraging an increase in cycle journeys, improving the perception of safety and converting short car trips into cycling ones.  

What is the maximum amount of funding we can apply for?

Grant funding up to £3,500 per application is available to support the delivery of events. Your funding amount will be shaped by your events plans and organisational costs. Every application is reviewed on a case-by-case basis, however, as a rough guide:

  • For a grant of £2,000, partners should be able to deliver at least six events
  • For a grant of £3,500, partners should be able to deliver at least 10 events

What can the grant be spent on?  

Eligible grant costs cover a wide range of items to support the delivery of your events. Such as staffing, promotional costs, equipment purchases, consumables and volunteer transport. For the full list please consult the Application Guidance or speak to your local cycling development officer.  

Can we apply for more than one grant?

Dependent on the availability of regional funding, yes. Multiple applications are always be reviewed on a case-by-case basis and in line with the local need.

If we underestimate the funding we budgeted for, can we receive a ‘top-up’?

No, unfortunately we cannot provide top-up funding. To receive further funding, you will need to submit another application.  

How long does it take to for my grant application to be reviewed and approved?  

All grant applications are reviewed regularly against funding criteria and this process can take up to 10 working days, or longer if details are missing. Following the application review, your local cycling development officer will be in touch with any follow-up queries before your application is approved. To avoid delays, we advise all applicants to read the Application Guidance and Terms and Conditions before submitting an application.

Once I have been awarded a grant, how long does it take to pay the funds?  

Once approved, it takes approximately 10-14 working days for all grant claims to be processed and for the funds to arrive in your account. You will receive an email from our finance team notifying you of your payment date, so you know the funds are on their way. 

Note: We require a verbal bank check to be completed before the grant funding can be processed. Once your application has been approved, your cycling development officer will be in touch to confirm bank details with you. 

Can grant funds be paid into a personal bank account?

To help us safeguard the process of awarding grant funding, delivery partners must have a business account to receive their grant. If you do not have this type of account in place, we strongly advise setting one up before applying. If you only have access to a personal bank account, we may ask for additional information. If you are unsure about this, please contact a member of the team for further advice.  

When do events need to be delivered?

The intervention must be delivered between Friday 18 April 2025 and Friday 31 October 2025.   

Can we postpone or cancel an event?

We understand that some events might have to be postponed or cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances. In the eventuality, please let your local cycling development officer know in the first instance. We ask that any cancelled events are rescheduled as soon as possible. Because funding is awarded is line with the events delivery, if rescheduling is not possible, we may have to ask for a full or partial refund.  

Can we deliver a mix of Fix, Learn, Ride events?

Yes, there are no limits to this and we in fact encourage delivery partners to deliver different parts of the model. Take a look at our Quick Event Guides which take you through each part of the model and what an event typically looks like. Your cycling development officer can offer advice and support on this too. 

What is the FIX-LEARN-RIDE model?

The programme is based on the COM-B (Capability, Opportunity, Motivation) framework of behaviour change theory. In other words, FIX events provide the opportunity, LEARN events the capability and RIDE events the motivation for adults to change their cycling behaviour. More details on how the theory links to our events model can be found on our Big Bike Revival website.

Can we collaborate with another partner?

Yes, you can choose to do this. Please be mindful that the maximum amount of grant still applies per application and the partner who submits the application will receive the funding. It is their responsibility to fulfil all funding agreements, including submitting event records.    

Can I deliver events solely for children?

Funding cannot be awarded to deliver events for children only or if the ratio of children outweighs adults. For the purpose of safeguarding young people under the age of 18, events for families can be offered whereby both adults and children are participating. Ideally partners should encourage one adult per child to take part in relevant events and adults must participate. 

Can I deliver a mass participant event?

Events focus on providing cycling activities that address the local need and encourage cycling for transport reasons. For this reason, large or mass participation events are unsuitable for funding. 

Can I encourage participants to return to future events?

Yes absolutely. We encourage partners to inspire participants to return to subsequent events, to help sustain increases in cycling and help us make an even bigger difference through The Big Bike Revival. 

How do we collect and submit participant details?

You are required to collect names and email addresses from all participants who access a service from each of your events. Take extra care when asking participants to write their details, ensuring each letter is legible. 

Upon approval you’ll be provided with a secure webform link to upload participant details. It is your responsibility to inform all participants who receive a free service at an event, they are consenting to being contacted by Cycling UK, for the purpose of monitoring and evaluating.  

All participant details must be returned with 48 hour of delivering each event. Some grant funding can be allocated to admin time to help with this process  

What do you do with participant details?

We email a survey to all participants about their cycling behaviour shortly after we receive their details and a second follow-up email three months later. This allows us to measure changes in cycling habits and the impact is reported to our funders.  

It is vital we capture adult’s cycling behaviours to demonstrate how we’re encouraging people across England to cycle for everyday journeys, to help secure future funding.  

We also generate valuable case studies to demonstrate the impact of The Big Bike Revival. Over the 12-week period, beneficiaries will also receive tips and advice to support their cycling. 

What programme resources will we receive?

You’ll receive resources to help you promote events, collect participant details and explain why we send surveys. We’ll send you a link to our online library whereby you’ll be able to download and print resources or use them online. An essentials pack of hard copies will be posted as well.  

Do I need my own insurance?

Generally, if you carry out similar activities as part of your normal business and or primary income, then we would expect you to have your own Public Liability insurance already. If applicable, we will ask you to verify this when applying as form of proof. Your insurance policy must be in the name of the organisation applying for funding and be valid for the intervention period.

Alternatively, we have a special events insurance policy in place for organisations without their own Public Liability Insurance, which can be used to deliver our programme.  

The Big Bike Revival

Further reading