British Cycling announce record female members to mark Women's Sport Week
Posted on in Cycles News
Female British Cycling members surpasses 20,000 - the highest in its history.
This week marks the second annual Women's Sport Week, raising awareness and increasing the profile of women's sport across the UK. To celebrate the event, British Cycling is pleased to announce that its female membership recently passed 20,000 for the first time in the organisation's history.
There has been a 139% increase in the number of female members since London 2012.
The milestone comes after the inspirational performances of British female cyclists in Rio and is another significant moment in the evolution of British Cycling's women's strategy, which aims to address the traditional gender imbalance within the sport.
Since the strategy was launched in 2013, over 250,000 more women are now cycling regularly, while there has also been a 70% increase in the number of trained female coaches in Britain.
The average age of British Cycling's female members is 39 - three years younger than the average age of male members - while the oldest member is an incredible 103.
Discussing the importance of Women's Sport Week, Minister for Sport Tracey Crouch said: "Being active and playing sport has enormous benefits - it improves mental and physical health, boosts confidence and leadership skills, and brings people together.
"I want to encourage more girls and women to get involved in sport for the positive impact it can have on their lives."
To help encourage more women to get into cycling and give them the confidence to shop instore, ACT and British Cycling's Breeze network introduced the Female Friendly Bike Shop scheme as part of the ‘Closing the cycling gap' campaign.
Breeze's female-friendly bike shop scheme' promotes independent traders who offer a great service to women with straightforward advice.
c.400 independent bike shops across the country are promoting themselves as Female Friendly, displaying a window sticker in their shop and appearing in the Female Friendly category on The Cycling Experts bike shop directory.
Female Friendly Bike Shop
Female friendly shops benefit from national promotion on The Cycling Experts as well as promotion within the rapidly growing network of participants and volunteers of the Breeze network.
To find your nearest Female Friendly Bike Shop click here
If you think you qualify as a female friendly bike shop please fill out the form at the bottom of this page and a Breeze representative will be in touch.
Useful links
If you have any other queries please contact us.
The Cycling Experts is brought to you by the Association of Cycle Traders.