Bikeworks exists to reduce barriers to cycling.

For two decades, we have used cycles as a tool for good. The work has always been practical: finding the cycle, setting, support and maintenance that make riding possible where conventional cycling provision does not reach far enough.

In our 20th year, No Child Left Behind brings that mission into sharper focus. Access to cycling should not depend on being able to ride a two-wheeler, join a mainstream session, or attend a school or community setting with its own specialist fleet.

The need is clear. Activity Alliance’s Play, Move, Belong research found only 26% of young disabled people say they can take part in sport and activity at school all the time, compared with 38% of non-disabled young people.

Cycling can bring movement, independence, skill, time outdoors and shared experience. The question is not whether cycling has value for children and young people. It does.

The question is whether the right conditions are in place: a cycle that fits, instructors who can adapt, a setting that works, and a practical plan to keep the offer active, safe and maintained.

At Victoria Park All Ability Club, Phoenix College students are showing what changes when those conditions come together.

What changes at Victoria Park

Phoenix College students have been spending Saturdays with Bikeworks at Victoria Park All Ability Club.

Each session starts with the cycle. Trained Bikeworks Cycle Instructors work with students to find the right fit, position and way to get moving. Specialist and standard cycles are available, so riding is not limited to one type of bike or one way of taking part.

The starting point is not whether a child or young person can fit into a pre-set cycling session.

The starting point is what needs to be in place so cycling becomes possible.

Students ride through Victoria Park. They spend time outdoors. They move, laugh, concentrate, try again and take part together.

The cycle is the tool. Around it, something wider opens up: movement, shared activity, social connection and time in the park.

A member of staff from Phoenix College reflected on the impact:

“Social interaction can be a challenge, but the club’s friendly and supportive atmosphere encourages positive communication and connection with others. Being able to engage in a shared activity helps them develop social skills in a natural and enjoyable way.”

That is the heart of the work.

Not asking young people to adapt to a fixed cycling offer.

Changing the offer so cycling becomes possible.

Why the right cycle matters

A specialist cycle is not an add-on.

A trike, handcycle, recumbent, wheelchair platform cycle, side-by-side or adapted cycle can open up cycling in a different way. The right choice depends on the rider, the site, storage, staff support, servicing and how often the cycle will be used.

Those decisions are hard to make from a catalogue alone.

A catalogue can show a product.

A Bikeworks session shows the product being used: how the cycle fits, how the rider is supported, how instructors adapt the session, and what needs to sit around the cycle so it can be used safely and regularly.

That matters for schools, colleges, local authorities and community organisations thinking about their own fleet, site or inclusive cycling offer.

From the right cycle to the right offer

Bikeworks can help organisations move from interest to practical delivery.

That can mean visiting an All Ability Club to see specialist cycles in use.

It can mean arranging test rides, talking through product options, choosing the right fleet, or purchasing specialist cycles through Bikeworks.

It can mean putting a maintenance package in place so specialist and standard cycles stay safe, roadworthy and ready to use.

It can also mean bringing Bikeworks into a school, college or community setting with trained instructors, specialist cycles and a delivery plan shaped around the site, the students and the outcomes wanted.

The product matters. The fit matters. The maintenance matters. The instructors matter. The setting matters.

When those pieces are planned properly, cycling becomes possible.

That is cycling equity in practice.

Talk to Bikeworks

If you are a school, college, local authority or community organisation, Bikeworks can help you explore what inclusive cycling could look like in your setting.

We can talk through specialist cycles, test rides, fleet advice, cycle sales, maintenance packages, visits to our All Ability Clubs and bespoke cycling delivery.

Email: all.ability@bikeworks.org.uk

No child should be left behind when it comes to cycling.

Theo joined the Little Wormwood Scrubs All Ability Club with Full of Life, a local community centre, for his first ride on the new Veloplus.

The Veloplus

The Veloplus is a specialist platform cycle for wheelchair users. It allows people to ride without transferring out of their chair, making it one of the most important cycles in an inclusive fleet. Across Bikeworks All Ability Clubs, Veloplus cycles are among the most popular because they open up riding to people who may not be able to use a standard or adapted cycle.

At Little Wormwood Scrubs, the new Veloplus now becomes part of regular weekly provision.

“Our All Ability Clubs respond to the people who attend each week. The team know which specialist cycles are most needed locally and what equipment will widen access. Having a Veloplus permanently based at Little Wormwood Scrubs means more people can now ride as part of the weekly club.”

Jamie Lawson, Inclusive Cycling Advisor at Bikeworks

Full of Life

Full of Life has been part of the Little Wormwood Scrubs All Ability community, bringing local residents to ride, spend time outdoors and participate in a regular club offer. The new Veloplus strengthens what the club can provide for wheelchair users, families and local groups who come to the sessions.

The cycle has been made possible through local partnership between the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London Cycling Campaign and Lime’s Share The Joy Fund, with continued support from local stakeholders.

Little Wormwood Scrubs All Ability Club

Little Wormwood Scrubs All Ability Club is a regular community space where disabled people, families and local groups can access inclusive cycling using specialist cycles, adapted cycles and support from Bikeworks instructors.

This is what place-based inclusive cycling looks like in practice: local partners, a regular club, the right specialist cycle, and a community asset which can be used week after week.

For Theo, it started with a first ride on the Veloplus.

For the club, it means more people can now ride using the right specialist cycle at Little Wormwood Scrubs.

By Zoe Portlock, Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Bikeworks

Twenty-five years ago, I began my career at a charity supporting people with learning disabilities and their families. I saw firsthand the exclusion faced across every part of life – from education and employment to sport, leisure, and community participation.

Decades later, the story is far too similar. Today, people with learning disabilities remain among the most excluded in society – more likely to experience loneliness, less likely to be in work, and more at risk of poor physical and mental health.

Driven by purpose, in response I established a supported employment and training service that still operates today, and went on to develop two social enterprises – one providing employment through fleet vehicle valeting, and the other, Bikeworks, using cycles as tools for inclusion, wellbeing, and connection.

But despite this – and the determined efforts of many across the years – people with learning disabilities continue to face persistent and systemic exclusion. The data lays bare just how entrenched the inequality remains:

• Just 5.1% of adults with a learning disability known to social care are in paid employment (NHS Digital, 2023).
• People with learning disabilities are twice as likely to be physically inactive compared to the general population (Sport England, 2020).

Why is this still acceptable?

At Bikeworks, we know what works. Our All Ability Clubs and events, and inclusive maintenance training, provide access to physical activity, independence, and confidence building. But this is still seen as niche – something unique, rather than the norm. For real change to happen, we need to scale inclusion, and that requires political will, sustained investment, and better data.

Here’s what needs to happen:

• Better recording of learning disability data across physical activity and health settings, so we understand participation – or lack of it – and respond accordingly.
• Targeted investment into inclusive cycling infrastructure and programmes, building on proven models that enable access and confidence.
• A national employment strategy that includes social enterprise and supported employment models – recognising the skills, talents, and aspirations of people with learning disabilities.
• A policy framework that treats inclusion not as a bolt-on, but as a baseline — embedded across sport, education, work, and community life.

This Learning Disability Week, we stand proudly with our east London neighbours at Bridget’s Café — run by ASL, a social enterprise championing employment and visibility.

Every week, the team rides with us at our All Ability Club. Every day, they show what’s possible when opportunity meets equity.

          

Let’s not just celebrate inclusion.

Let’s fund it, legislate for it, and embed it into our systems.

Because people with learning disabilities are not the problem.

The structures that exclude them are.

And those can, and must — change.

Footnote:

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Bikeworks has seen a marked increase in participation across our All Ability Club programme. At Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, attendance more than doubled in the past year alone — a rise of over 100%. Despite this visible and growing demand, we continue to fight for consistent revenue investment. This increase is not simply about popularity — it highlights a deeper issue: the continued absence of inclusive, community-level physical activity offers that meet the needs of disabled people and those with learning disabilities.