Bothies

The Inverclyde Bothy was Inverclyde’s home of walking and cycling from 2018, presented in association with Cycling UK. Paths for All and Smarter Choices, Smarter Places for a healthier, happier and cleaner Inverclyde. We aimed to create positive change to the way people travel, perceive and utilise the place they live and visit.

We focused on cycling, walking and wheeling through our health walks, cycle confidence sessions, led rides, family cycling sessions, e-bike loans and much more. We also offered opportunities to the local community to volunteer with us and become part of the Bothy Family. We strove to raise awareness of cycling and walking routes, and increase the confidence of people’s travel journeys and local knowledge.

The Dunoon Bothy was initiated in late 2020 and was a partnership project between Cycling UK and Argyll & Bute Council. The Dunoon Bothy was supported by Dunoon Area Alliance and utilised Smarter Choices Smarter Places grant funding in Dunoon to amalgamate numerous community groups encouraging smarter travel to create a healthier, happier and cleaner community and a place people want to spend time.

We aimed to create positive change to the way people travel, perceive and utilise the place they live and visit. We focused on cycling and walking and through our outreach, we strove to raise awareness of cycling and walking routes, increase the confidence of people’s travel journeys and local knowledge, and offer a space for the community to share feedback and suggestions on the place around them.

We did this though offering led rides, cycle confidence sessions, e-loaning bikes to the community and offering health walks. We also offered opportunities to members of the local community to volunteer with us and become part of the Bothy Family.

The Golspie Bothy project supported local community groups, organisations, businesses and individuals within Golspie, Brora and nearby surrounding areas of East Sutherland to reduce the amount of short car journeys by replacing them with walking and cycling. Tailored support for individuals, groups or organisations was designed to establish lasting behaviour change.

Key activities were e-bike loans and try outs, Better Biking cycle confidence sessions, buddy rides, route planning, led rides, advice and guidance on becoming more cycle friendly and health walks.

The Golspie Bothy was funded through Smarter Choices, Smarter Places funding and in partnership with the Sutherland Outdoor Activities Project (SOAP). The project also linked with other local organisations whose focus aligned with ours, to improve access to resources to improve health and wellbeing, reduce inequalities, to upskill volunteers, create opportunities and encourage a healthier more environmentally friendly lifestyle. We also offered opportunities to the local community to volunteer with us and become part of the Bothy Family.

Aberdeenshire Bothy worked with local communities and brought together organisations which promote cycling activities or would like support in doing so. The project provided opportunities to help people travel on wheels, for example Better Biking confidence sessions for adults, led rides, e-bike try outs, family sessions and route planning support.

The Bothy also offered bike maintenance sessions to equip people with knowledge to carry out small repairs on their bike. Members of the local community were able to volunteer with Aberdeenshire Bothy and become part of the Bothy Family. The Bothy prioritised working with the Integrated Travel Towns (ITT) project delivered by Aberdeenshire Council and focused on the five towns within the project: Ellon, Fraserburgh, Huntly, Inverurie, Portlethen and Peterhead.

The Aberdeenshire Bothy project linked with other local organisations to improve active travel, improve access to resources, reduce inequalities, upskill volunteers, create opportunities and encourage a healthier more environmentally friendly lifestyle. The project was established with Aberdeenshire Council and Smarter Choices, Smarter Places funding.

We offered a variety of health walks at the Bothy.

A health walk:

• is led by a trained volunteer on a risk assessed route
• is usually less than an hour long
• welcomes new walkers who would benefit from being more active
• is a friendly group walk offered regularly
• is an opportunity to meet new people in your area and explore places you might not have been before

Health walks are aimed at inactive people who would benefit most from doing more physical activity. This can include people who haven’t been active for a while and would like to start again, people recovering from ill health or who are managing a long-term condition and anyone who’s been told by a health professional that they would benefit from being more active.

Many health walks are also attended by people who are already quite active but who come along because they enjoy the social aspect and are keen to walk with a group.

The Bothy hosted regular led rides in each of their locations. A led ride is a sociable local ride, coordinated and risk assessed by Bothy staff and volunteers.

Information on led rides was posted on the Facebook pages of each Bothy.

Before attending a led ride, our qualified Bothy staff and volunteers carried out a short assessment of riding skills to make sure attendees would be comfortable and safe on the ride. They also talked through how to carry out a quick check of your own bike to make sure it’s safe and roadworthy before heading out on the ride.

For those unable to ride a bike but keen to learn, our qualified team of Bothy staff and volunteers could provide leaners with the know-how to get pedalling. A fleet of bikes at the Bothy were used during learn to ride sessions where simple techniques for balance, braking and pedalling helped to build confidence.

Beyond our learn to ride sessions, learners were welcome to take part in other cycling activities, to further enhance confidence and expertise.

Family cycling sessions offered simple, tips and techniques for safer on-road cycling for families. Delivered by our qualified team of Bothy staff and volunteers, these practical sessions lasted for approximately two hours, during which communication and observation skills were developed along with road position and how to move your family through junctions safely.

A range of bikes was available for adults and children with the session delivered at locations near attendees’ homes. We also demonstrated how to check bikes to make sure they are safe and roadworthy.

Communication, road position and observations were just a few of the tips and techniques our qualified team of Bothy staff and volunteers developed during 1-2-1 better biking sessions. Delivered at a pace to suit the learner, the sessions improved confidence, experience and knowledge when cycling on road, ideal for using your bike for those short journeys or commuting to work rather than the car.

Each session lasted for around one hour (which included a check of your bike to make sure it’s safe and roadworthy) with three sessions recommended. Furthermore, our range of bikes, including our e-bikes, were available for the Better Biking sessions.

For those keen to use their bike for shorter journeys or to commute to work, and looking to build confidence when cycling, the 1-2-1 buddy rides were the perfect way to develop on-road cycling skills.

Our qualified team of Bothy staff and volunteers ride with participants, on roads that suit their experience, to enhance riding skills, and offer on-the-spot advice for safer cycling. Each session lasted for around one hour and included a check of your bike to make sure it’s safe and roadworthy. Furthermore, our range of bikes, including our e-bikes, were available for the 1-2-1 buddy rides.

We had a full range of e-bikes at the Bothy which could be tried out for free. Participants could test out our step-through, hybrid, mountain or cargo e-bikes free of charge.

E-bike try-outs lasted for approximately 30 minutes, with qualified Bothy staff and volunteers to show you how the e-bike works as well as assist you with a run through of the differences between and a standard bike and make sure you feel confident when riding an e-bike.

The full range of e-bikes at the Bothy were available for free loans. You could test out step-through, hybrid, mountain or cargo e-bikes free of charge. Loans could be for a short half-hour local ride to up to a few weeks.

Qualified Bothy staff and volunteers would demonstrate how the e-bike works, assist with a run through of the differences between the bike being loaned and a standard bike and will make sure you feel confident to take the bike away.

Inverclyde Bothy offered the chance to try out a range of adapted cycles for free. We had a range of cycles from e-trikes to tandems and had trained staff who could support participants to get wheeling safely.