New bikes creating opportunity for Lanarkshire’s children and families
Community Volunteers Enabling You (COVEY) is not your typical bricks and mortar place-based resource centre for the community. It works on a case-by-case referral system whereby each child, young person or parent/carer receives support that is responsive to their needs.
As a funded charity, it relies solely on funding and donations to do its work, and receiving this project funding through Cycling UK’s Cycle Access Fund was a great asset to the work.
Some families that COVEY works with face significant financial challenges, creating barriers to opportunities and impacting their lives in many ways.
Some families may experience disruptions or separations, and in some cases, children take on caregiving roles at home. Due to changes in their home life, some children are moved to new environments where they may face unfamiliar surroundings and adjustments.
For some children and young people supported by COVEY, opportunities to receive new items are rare and they may not have a choice in what they receive. Many items, such as bikes, are secondhand, and some children may feel self-conscious if their bike is in need of repair, or they may hesitate to share that they don’t have one at all.
The accessibility and cost of public transport can also limit families’ ability to access parks and open spaces in their community, contributing to a sense of isolation. These circumstances can reduce the range of experiences and social interactions for both children and families.
How Cycle Access Fund has helped
Thanks to funding from the Cycle Access Fund, COVEY was able to offer children their own bikes – new, safe and selected by them.
“It’s helped us promote wellbeing in a really visible way,” said Claire. “We can now take children to the park and use cycling to show them what healthy fun looks like. The bikes empower them to get out, be active, and feel good.”
The effect on the young people has been powerful – boosting independence, confidence and a sense of pride.
One boy who received a bike told us he’d never been given anything new like that. Letting him choose it for himself made all the difference – it was personal and that was empowering
For two girls with additional support needs who had recently been made homeless, receiving bikes helped them settle into a new area and rebuild their confidence.
One of the girls is usually non-verbal, but she was excited and talkative about her new bike. It gave her a way to explore her community and connect with others
Making cycling accessible for all
The funding has sparked new interest in cycling across the whole organisation.
Staff are now asking about bikes for themselves, so they can join the children on rides. It’s brought a new energy to our team and their relationships with families
There’s also scope to expand COVEY’s adult walking group into a cycle group, opening up new opportunities for outdoor activities and wellbeing.
COVEY hopes to build on this success by offering bike maintenance support to keep the bikes safe and in good condition.
We want to maintain that excitement and engagement. Helping the children look after their bikes adds another layer of ownership and learning
Local cycling infrastructure
While cycling is a new focus for COVEY, they’ve found the local infrastructure is supportive.
There are cycle parks and school routes with storage in place. The children are now talking about cycling to school - it’s exciting and makes that daily journey something to look forward to
Most importantly, the project has supported COVEY’s core mission.
This scheme adds value to one of our goals – keeping children engaged with education. Getting on their new bikes makes going to school more fun, more possible and more theirs
With the support of the Cycle Access Fund, COVEY has turned simple bike access into a powerful catalyst for wellbeing, learning and confidence – showing how cycling can help transform young lives in Lanarkshire.
