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In April 2007, British Cycling membership was at 20,000 members, rising to 30,000 by May 2010 and has since grown to 40,000 in just over a year. This rapid growth has been boosted by the organisation’s elite success since the 2008 Beijing Games and a host of grassroots initiatives.
Brian Cookson OBE, President of British Cycling, said:
“Today really brings it home that our ‘inspiration to participation’ strategy is working as all types of cyclists are getting behind us on the final approach to London 2012.
“Mark [Cavendish] has already thanked his team but I’m sure he would agree that gold medals really come about as the culmination of the efforts from a huge team of people, from riders and support staff to the thousands of volunteers and clubs who work tirelessly to develop our sport.”
“As we celebrate this great British victory and record membership, our thanks go to Sport England whose National Governing Bodies investment strategy has been key to our success at grassroots level and to UK Sport and Sky for their continued support.”
“We are on track to get one million more people cycling regularly and increase weekly participation to 125,000 by 2013, and with the backing of our partners and members we are delivering a fantastic participation legacy of a home Olympic and Paralympic Games.”
Ian Austin MP, Shadow Sports Minister, member of British Cycling, and co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group, said: “What British Cycling have achieved is remarkable because very few sports manage to increase mass participation at the grass roots and achieve world-beating success at elite level."
