“I enjoyed cycling with my father as a child – it was all about roaming freely and going where you want to go. I tried to pass this on to my own children,” says Cycle of Life’s Ibe Hayter, “but I found that they didn’t enjoy it as much, as there wasn’t a cycling culture in my diverse neighbourhood.

“I trained up and worked as a cycling instructor and ran cycle projects from a Scout group I had set up. I remember one of the instructors I worked alongside at a secondary school telling a young Somali student that she would have to take her headscarf off to put on a helmet or she would not be allowed to ride. I felt this girl was being forced to choose between her identity and riding a bike, which was unfair in my eyes”

Ibe continues, “Many of the children we trained at schools lived in my area, although none of the instructors did. After completing the training and receiving the certificates I noticed many children stopped riding. When I enquired why, they informed me that their families did not encourage them, as they felt riding bikes on the road was dangerous. When I spoke to parents they listed many barriers why they would not consider cycling and why they did not encourage their children.” Ibe understood that over the next 10 years it was inevitable that cities would change drastically and we would no longer be able to rely on cars and public transport to travel but cycling and walking will be the new norm. He realised a radical new approach would be required to tackle the social inequalities in mobility, health, emissions and socio-economic status in the city/region as well as the other barriers that prevent people from confidently choosing to cycle.