News
25/07/2024

Breaking Barriers: Interview with Wheels for Wellbeing on inclusive cycling

Disability Pride Month gives us the opportunity to pause and reflect on the actions required to make mobility accessible and inclusive and, above all, celebrate disability. This year, we hear from Wheels for Wellbeing, a pioneering charity at the forefront of advocating for inclusive cycling, to learn how we can promote mobility that is more accessible to everyone.

* Please note: this article will follow Transport for All and Wheels for Wellbeing’s choice of 'disabled people' as a term, which is rooted in the social model of disability that understands the problems as existing in the environment, rather than the person.

Cover of Transport for All's report titled 'Are we there yet?'

Cover of Transport for All's report titled 'Are we there yet? Barriers to transport for disabled people in 2023'

Transport is largely inaccessible—this is one of the key findings from Transport for All’s latest report, which looks into the experiences of disabled people when making journeys. The report found that disabled people make far fewer journeys than non-disabled people, with an average of just 5.84 journeys per week. This is but a third of the national average of 17 trips a week, according to the UK’s National Travel Survey. Overwhelmingly, disabled people said that the main reason for not making as many journeys as they would like is due to barriers to access.

At the same time, cycling is being continuously recognised as a healthy, sustainable, cost-effective way of moving around in our cities, and a full-fledged transport mode, with the European Union adopting the European Declaration on Cycling just this year. However, is cycling accessible to all users? Transport for All’s report revealed that disabled people in the UK have rated cycling as the most poorly rated mobility mode, compared to other modes such as walking/wheeling or public transport.  For mobility to be truly sustainable, everyone needs to be on board – yet these findings show that a substantial portion of the population remains unable to move freely due to transport systems still not being accessible enough for those with impairments or disabilities.

For the past two years, POLIS has taken the opportunity to reflect on what actions are required to make mobility more accessible and inclusive and, above all, celebrate disability, highlighting what our members and projects have done in this regard and receiving insights from experts such as Sustrans and Transport for All. This year, we shine a spotlight on the importance of accessible and inclusive cycling for disabled people. Disability Pride Month is dedicated to recognising the contributions, strengths, and resilience of the disabled community while advocating for greater accessibility and inclusion in all areas of society. Cycling, as a form of mobility and recreation, holds immense potential for those with impairments and disabilities, providing independence, improving physical health, and fostering social inclusion.

Wheels for Wellbeing, a pioneering charity in the field, has been at the forefront of advocating for inclusive cycling. We turned to Ben Foley, their Campaign and Policy Lead, to learn more about the charity’s mission and how local authorities and communities can help foster more inclusive cycling for disabled people.


POLIS: Can you tell us a little bit more about the work you do at Wheels for Wellbeing and what inspired its founding? Any particular success stories you would like to share?

Ben Foley: Wheels for Wellbeing came about as a centre that provided opportunities for Disabled people to try out cycling. There was a realisation, though, that what was most needed was not so much opportunities to sit on cycles in very controlled environments, welcome as those are, but rather the removal of the barriers Disabled people face to getting out and about cycling for utility journeys. Because of that, Wheels for Wellbeing set up a ‘Campaigns and Policy’ team that I joined a couple of years ago.

The greatest success of our campaigns’ work so far has been to get Disabled people on the agenda of active travel organisations in Britain. All of the significant organisations now accept that cycle provision is sub-standard if it includes physical barriers such as access gates that exclude Disabled cyclists. More recently, we have been able to launch a photobank of free-to-use images of Disabled cyclists that are helping those organisations depict a more varied selection of cyclists.

Group of people laughing by while riding different kinds of cycles.

Group of people laughing outside while riding different kinds of cycles. Source: Wheels for Wellbeing Photobank


POLIS: What are the most common challenges faced by your organisation and more generally, by disabled people in cycling? What can local authorities do to support you in meeting these challenges?

Ben Foley: Our research has shown that infrastructure is the biggest challenge: we conducted a survey of Disabled cyclists and potential cyclists in Britain, and more than half of our respondents mentioned it as an obstacle. Parking/storage is the second largest challenge, which is a common problem for all cyclists in British cities, but much worse for anyone using a larger or more valuable adapted cycle. These various challenges lead to a world where the number of Disabled cyclists is artificially depressed, adding to the false impression that there are not any Disabled cyclists: this is one of the biggest obstacles we face as an organisation.

The key things local authorities can do for us would be to:

  • Stop putting in physical barriers that make cycle paths inaccessible for Disabled people – even if the Equality Act in the United Kingdom makes them illegal, the law is ridiculously difficult to use to get them removed;
  • Make sure that people have proper provision for accessible cycle parking at home and work. Local authorities are willing to make provision for the much greater amount of space that cars take up, but too rarely are allowing a small proportion of that to be used for secure cycle parking. We produce a series of guidance sheets to help local authorities (and others) get these right.

POLIS: What advice do you have for cities, regions, and other mobility stakeholders aiming to make cycling more inclusive? How can they ensure any changes made to support disabled cyclists or disabled people in general actually reach them?

Ben Foley: The biggest piece of advice on making cycling more inclusive is to design infrastructure that takes account of Disabled cyclists using larger cycles, which are usually different kinds of tricycles. The second would be to find a way for Disabled people to be included in any shared mobility (cycle or e-scooter hire) scheme. It may require alternative provisions, including the delivery and collection of cycles, such as the ‘Wheels 4 Me’ scheme we operate with partners in London, so getting support to reach Disabled people takes on a very literal meaning!

Graphic titled “language matters in accessible design” has two squares one below the other. In the top square, a picture of an older child riding a bike is below the words “suitable for a sensible 12-year-old”. In the bottom picture, pictures of people of all ages using a range of cycles and other mobility aids – including the same child riding a bike – surround the words “suitable for everyone, from 8 to 80 and beyond”.The Wheels for Wellbeing and My Cycle My Mobility Aid logos are in the bottom centre of each picture.

Graphic from Wheels for Wellbeing's #MyCycleMyMobilityAid campaign. Source: Wheels for Wellbeing


POLIS: What are some misconceptions about disabled cyclists? What actions do you believe are required to change these perceptions?

Ben Foley: The biggest misconception is that people are either Disabled, or a cyclist, and cannot be both. This is so frustratingly common. It comes out in various ways - two of the most obvious are comments that if a person is cycling they can't be really disabled, and instructions for cyclists to dismount, and by implication push their cycle, when very many Disabled cyclists cannot 'get off and push'. Our actions include the #MyCycleMyMobilityAid campaign, where we are campaigning for a change in the law in the United Kingdom to recognise cycles as mobility aids and to receive permission to use them at walking speed in the same ways and places a wheelchair can be used.

Another element is running our photobank of images of Disabled cyclists, which can help mean an end to Disabled people being 'invisible cyclists'. While the photobank mainly includes Disabled people riding nonstandard cycles, it also intends to include Disabled people riding standard cycles, even if there are not the same visual clues of Disability.


POLIS: Beyond the Wheels for Wellbeing Photobank you mentioned, you have also been campaigning for the use of more inclusive language on cycling. Could you elaborate a bit on the importance of language and visuals in changing perceptions about cycling and making it more inclusive, specifically for disabled people?

Ben Foley: If the language and visuals reinforce the view that Disabled people do not cycle, then unreasonable instructions and inadequate provision are much more likely to continue. Why make provisions for a category of people who you do not believe exist? So much of what happens is impacted by beliefs rather than hard evidence. Changing language and imagery really can impact beliefs. Regarding language changes, we have firstly brought about a shift to talking about ‘walking/wheeling and cycling’ not ‘walking and cycling’; secondly, we are trying to get people to talk about ‘cycles’, a more inclusive word, rather than ‘bikes’ which implicitly ignores tricycles and hand cycles.


POLIS: What are Wheels for Wellbeing’s goals for the next five years? Are there any upcoming projects or initiatives you would like to highlight?

Ben Foley: Our biggest campaign over the next few years will be the #MyCycleMyMobilityAid campaign. We feel we should be able to get really helpful changes in the law over the next five years, but it probably requires trying to influence what is included and the wording used when the government proposes other changes to the law in related fields (whenever that happens). As a longer-term project, we're also trying to build up the Disabled Cycling Activist Network, making it easier for campaigners to keep in touch and work together.