Cycling, outreach, shortfalls and progress in migrant communities: A refreshingly acute discussion (by Ms Nicola Hill, dream volunteer and all round great egg)
As a professional who works in community engagement for cycling projects I couldn’t help but get frustrated by the lack of service provision for migrant communities in London, so imagine my delight when I came across The Bike Project!
The idea of up-cycling London’s many abandoned bikes seemed perfectly logical and the numbers really do add up. At last, there are two other people (in Jem and Sarah) who have made the connection between welfare, public health and environmental initiatives. Not only this but they were were navigating and seemingly freewheeling their way through what can seem like an over-bearing system to deliver real benefit to refugees and asylum seekers, some of London’s most destitute and deprived.
As a new migrant learning to live in London on limited funds a bicycle is a vital lifeline, a precondition to feeling socially included and successfully integrating into society as well being of great benefit to health and mental well being. With a bicycle a refugee can
access food, social centers, lawyers, therapy sessions, medical appointments as well as make it to those all important reporting meetings at Home Office (for which no provision for travel expenses is made).
The Bike Project is also working to break down conventional barriers to cycling for migrant communities. Sarah is currently running a specific cycle raining session for women who may never have had the chance to cycle before or just do not feel confident cycling on London’s streets. This really is pioneering.
TfL have long been aware of the differences in travel behaviour between different minority groups, reporting that that 71% of London residents from ethnic minority backgrounds say that they ‘never’ cycle, compared to just 57% of white Londoners, not to mention that just 28% of cycle trips are made by women!
London is crying out for more ground breaking projects like The Bike Project which increase cycling participation. The reasoning behind low participation can be complex varying from group to group and some barriers are easier to overcome than others. For example, when it comes down to a language or inability to ride this can be overcome with the provision of information and cycle training. However, other reasons can be that people from the most disadvantaged communities are more likely to live in an ‘obesogenic’ environment which discourages walking and cycling and there are a lack of role models to raise awareness and encourage community participation. These cultural constraints are difficult to address. For example, in Hackney, though children received cycle training at school, this was not sufficient to encourage them to cycle outside or to/from school because their parents, typically non-cyclists, did not consider cycling to be a valid or safe mode of transport.
If more outreach and advocacy work like the Bike Project is not undertaken across London then increases in cycle trip frequency will only come from those who already cycle (predominantly white, British) cycling more as opposed to engaging individuals from harder to reach communities in changing their travel behaviour. This is not sustainable.
Cyclists and non cyclists alike know that cycling offers many other advantages to London as a whole including cleaner air, less noise and fewer road traffic injuries, but more importantly, individuals who travel actively feel more connected to their local environment, especially the green spaces where communities can converge and become more cohesive. This, I believe is where the real benefit is for asylum seekers and refugees as new migrants, seeking to integrate and connect with their new society.
The Bike Project is vital to not only changing attitudes and behaviour, but also in addressing the growing importance of social equity for all, which it is doing one bike at a time.
