PedAll inclusive cycling project celebrates receiving over £380k of National Lottery funding
PUBLISHED ON: 18 MARCH 2024PedAll is celebrating after being awarded over £380,000 from the National Lottery Community Fund to help make cycling in the New Forest available to people of all ages and abilities.
The money will help provide more guided rides for local disability groups and individuals with additional needs and recruit a new ride leader.
PedAll is run by the charity Friends of PedAll and the New Forest National Park Authority, supported by the NHS, the charity SCARF and Forestry England.
The organisation is supported by over 50 dedicated volunteers and operates from two sites – at Burley and Ashurst. Over 30 schools, colleges, residential care homes and charitable organisations were supported by PedAll in 2023.
It has one of the most diverse fleets of adapted bicycles in the country that can support a wide range of physical and mental health conditions.
The community hub on the Ashurst Hospital site has extra activities including a drop-in bike repair service, bike skills training for young people with additional needs, Pedall volunteer training, social and confidence building rides, alongside guided rides for the additional-needs community.
The new funding from The National Lottery Community Fund, which distributes money raised by National Lottery players for good causes and is the largest community funder in the UK, is spread over five years and will help develop a more sustainable financial future.
The funding means it will be able to run 250 weekly group ride courses each year; offer 200 ‘open ride’ sessions per year and cycle with over 4,000 riders per year.
PedAll Project Manager Shelley Filby said: ‘We’re delighted that The National Lottery Community Fund has recognised our work in this way. Now, thanks to National Lottery players this provides PedAll with some welcome financial stability as we increase our focus on additional funding opportunities for the future. We are recruiting a new Ride Leader to the team and can press on with our plans to broaden the range of opportunities available to local people with disabilities and their parents and carers.
‘We know PedAll sessions have long-lasting positive impacts on our riders. A recent survey said that all parents and carers had seen a sense of enjoyment from the natural environment and wildlife amongst riders; 86% of riders said they were doing more exercise now than before; and 80% agreed with ‘I feel happy’ after engaging with PedAll.’
New Forest National Park Authority Chair David Bence said: ‘The New Forest National Park, with its relatively flat landscape and miles of gravel tracks, is the perfect place for people who may need a bit of help to get outside in nature.
‘We have already seen through PedALL that cycling can change lives, with positive impacts on physical and mental health and giving people confidence to get out and explore. So it’s great that the project now has this financial backing to take it to the next stage.’
The National Lottery Community Fund recently launched its new strategy, ‘It starts with community’, which will underpin its efforts to distribute at least £4 billion of National Lottery funding by 2030.
As part of this, the funder has four key missions: to support communities to come together; be environmentally sustainable; help children and young people thrive; and enable people to live healthier lives.
National Lottery players raise over £30 million a week for good causes across the UK. Thanks to them, last year The National Lottery Community Fund was able to distribute over half a billion pounds (£615.4 million) of life-changing funding to communities.
To find out more about PedAll visit www.pedall.org.uk. To find out more about The National Lottery Community Fund, visit www.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk.
