Cycling makes people feel healthier and happier, it saves them money and it’s often the quickest way to travel. And the more people we support to switch from driving to cycling, the healthier our air and carbon impact is. This is good for everyone and reduces environmental inequalities. Communities with lower levels of income are often more impacted by air, water and noise pollution, as well as climate change.
Organisations across Scotland, including businesses, schools, universities and colleges, either have the Cycling Friendly Award or are working towards it, and over a million employees are being supported to travel by bike.
Why not join them? Register your organisation.
The Cycling Friendly award provides one-to-one support to help your organisation enable and encourage cycling. Benefits of the award include:
Registration – the first step is to register for the award online. This only takes a few minutes - you’ll need to have organisational agreement and know some basic info.
Assessment – A Cycling Friendly assessor will arrange a meeting with you (online or in person) to discuss what you currently have in place to support cycling. The Assessment will cover:
Action plan – Your assessor will follow up with a tailored action plan and will provide ongoing support to help you meet the criteria. There's no set timeframe to achieve the award.
Award – Once your organisation has implemented the action plan, you are awarded Cycling Friendly status and will receive a communications toolkit including certificate and logo.
Reassessment – After three years, you will be contacted to review progress and renew your award.
More than 1000 organisations across Scotland have been awarded Cycling Friendly including
Employers: 843 organisations have achieved or are working towards the Cycling Friendly award, from NHS Scotland, Scottish Gas and HMRC to Sainsburys and National Galleries of Scotland. Over a million employees are set to benefit.
Schools: More than 490 primary and secondary schools in urban and rural communities.
Campuses: 64 college and university sites including Highlands and Islands Students Association, Fife College and University of Edinburgh.
Community groups: More than 242 community groups, from North Ronaldsay Trust in Orkney to South Machars Community Centre in Newton Stewart.
The first step is to get in touch with a bit of information about your organisation – complete a simple form here.
If you have any questions, you can contact us by email.
It’s been over a month now since having the bike and I have only had to use the car twice which is brilliant.
I think it's great that we have been given the opportunity to use these bikes and I hope more people get involved as it really is enjoyable, makes you feel good, the clients love to see you arrive on the bike and it's one less car on the road so better for our planet.
Highland Home Carers
Mick Heath
Our vision is to create a strong community, using bikes to engage people. The needs of ethnic minorities in this city are huge and we’ve found that cycling reduces feelings of isolation, improves fitness and health and overall happiness.
SoulRiders
Rashid Khaliq
As a green business, cycling is a way that everyone can make an impact. It helps reduce absenteeism and is good for general mental health. The Cycling Friendly Award really aligns with our policy initiative.
