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£10m investment from British Cycling, via Sport England, has attracted over £60m funding from partner organisations to build 24 cycling facilities since 2009 as well as refurbish seven existing ones.
British Cycling’s chief executive, Ian Drake, has hailed the contribution of Sport England after British Cycling passed the £10m mark in investment in cycle sport facilities. The milestone was reached as construction work to develop a new closed-road circuit in partnership with the University of Leeds got underway.
Sport England Exchequer funding was first awarded directly to national governing bodies in 2009 to support facility developments. Since then, British Cycling said it has delivered on its promise to provide safe, traffic-free cycle sport facilities to cater for people of all ages and abilities.
Drake said:
“This £10m investment milestone in facilities is hugely significant, and gives us the opportunity to reflect on just how far our sport has come. In recent years, our elite athletes have excelled on the world stage, providing us with both a challenge and an opportunity – to use their fantastic success to facilitate an increase in participation at grassroots level.
“Thanks to the support we have received from Sport England, we have been able to invest in facility developments across the country, which are enabling people of all ages and abilities to get involved in the sport in safe, traffic-free environments.
“We are also very grateful to the local councils, authorities and organisations which have recognised the benefits of building new – or upgrading existing – cycling facilities. We recognise that there is still work to do in order to create a comprehensive network of facilities, but we will continue to work with Sport England and partner organisations to support projects which are helping to contribute to not only producing athletes of the future, but making our nation a healthier and more active one.”
Charles Johnston, property director at Sport England, said:
“Cycling is a fantastic sport and we want as many people as possible in England to be able to enjoy the benefits that it can bring to their lives.
“This £10m investment milestone provides a good opportunity to review just how much money is being put into providing opportunities for people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds to have access to cycling facilities. We are very pleased with what we are seeing and hope to see even more opportunities provided in future.”
The number of closed road circuits in England has risen from fourteen in 2009 to 25 today. British Cycling is currently working with partners to complete a further five facility projects by March 2017.
