Glasgow community groups to benefit from £150,000 Wheels in Motion Fund grants

Twenty-three organisations across Glasgow have received a significant funding boost which will help more people get involved in cycling and wheeled urban sports.

Community groups, clubs and associations across the city who made successful applications to the new Wheels in Motion Fund will share £150,000 of grant funding to roll out new ideas which encourage people to become more physically active by getting on a bike, skateboarding, rollerskating or scootering.

The Glasgow City Council fund opened in January and made grants of between £1,000 and £10,000 available to eligible projects that help local residents, particularly from underrepresented groups, to take part in cycling and wheeled sports.

The funding is administered by Glasgow Life, the charity that leads culture, events and active living in Glasgow. It is designed to encourage physical activity that supports health and social interaction and promote environmentally friendly travel.

News of the Wheels in Motion Fund awards comes ahead of Bike Week 2025 (9-15 June), Cycling UK’s annual celebration of cycling that promotes its many benefits for individuals, communities, and the environment. Bike Week is dedicated to promoting cycling as a fun, healthy, and environmentally friendly way to get around.

One of the 23 organisations set to benefit from the Wheels in Motion Fund is CWAS (Cycling Without Age Scotland). They will use the money to help fund a trishaw and storage facility, enabling more elderly and disabled people in Glasgow to enjoy being outdoors by taking advantage of free rides on the charity’s three-wheeled e-bikes. The new trishaw will be based at either the Riverside Museum or Pollok Country Park.

Ray Burr, CWAS’ Operations and Development Manager, said: “We’re thrilled to have been chosen to receive support through the Wheels in Motion Fund. Our free e-bike trishaw rides are exceptionally popular with both passengers and the volunteers who run the service. This simple yet powerful experience helps to combat loneliness by giving passengers the chance to interact with others in a meaningful and enjoyable way. Beyond reducing isolation, the initiative connects different generations, strengthens communities and encourages people to get active – and many of our pilots are in their 60s, 70s and even 80s! We’re also very proud of the influence we’re having on people to switch to using bikes and e-bikes for shorter journeys.”

Among the other groups who will be supported by the Wheels in Motion Fund are the Church House family support centre in Bridgeton and the Central and West Integration Network.

Church House encourages young people to grow and develop, at their own pace, into young adults. Church House will use its grant to give young people from deprived backgrounds the chance to try out BMX bikes and design, build and maintain skateboards.

The funding given to the Central and West Integration Network will help asylum seekers and refugees to sign up for and use free nextbike memberships across Glasgow. The network describes having access to the free use of a bike as “life-changing” for asylum seekers and refugees, who often have to spend much of their £7 daily asylum financial support allowance on transport when attending appointments. The Central and West Integration Network says being able to cycle and exercise outside will also help improve their members’ mental health and help overcome feelings of isolation by offering access to new activities and volunteering opportunities in community organisations, libraries and museums.

The Wheels in Motion fund supports Glasgow City Council’s Cycling and Urban Sports Strategy and citywide work encouraging active travel, travel behaviour change and cycling and urban sports to improve the health and wellbeing of Glasgow’s residents.

Glasgow is Scotland’s only UCI Bike City and is a world-leading cycling city and major sporting event host, having staged the first-ever UCI Cycling World Championships in 2023. The Championships had a gross value added (GVA) economic impact for Glasgow of £129 million.

The Wheels in Motion Fund seeks to build on the success of previous initiatives such as the Go Cycle Glasgow Fund, a UCI Cycling World Championships legacy project which created opportunities to encourage and enable local people to take up cycling for life. The Go Cycle Glasgow funding saw over 1,450 city residents of all ages start cycling to enjoy long-term health and wellbeing benefits.

Glasgow’s commitment to the power of the bike is clear – the city is also gearing up to host the finale of the Lloyds Tour of Britain Women on Sunday (8 June). As the biggest professional women’s cycling event in the UK, the competition will see some of the best female riders race through the city centre.

Glasgow Green will also be home to the Lloyds Tour of Britain Family Cycling Festival on 8 June (from 9am to 5pm), with free events and activities throughout the day, including the chance for fans, families and cyclists of all ages and abilities to ride the same route as the professionals from 1pm to 4pm.

Councillor Angus Millar, Glasgow City Council Convener for Climate and Transport, said: “I’m delighted that so many organisations received Wheels in Motion funding which will help more people get involved in cycling and wheeled urban sports. We want to create a vibrant city where these activities are accessible, inclusive, safe, and attractive to everyone. By removing barriers to participation, these grants will help tackle health inequalities and support our environmental ambitions by making it easier to travel around the city sustainably.”