Cycle-Lingo
Cycle-Lingo was a trial project for Ukrainian Speakers in Kettering
Cycle Lingo was aimed at Ukrainian speakers living in Kettering or nearby in other parts of North Northamptonshire who wanted to cycle to get to work, to the shops or for other local everyday trips... but lack the confidence to do so.
It was our first trial of our new Cycle-Lingo project - combining cycle confidence training with language support for adults. It was brought to you by us here at Brightwayz social enterprise. It was a project funded by the Department for Transport through North Northamptonshire Council and was set up for local Ukrainian speakers who could cycle but needed help getting equipped to cycle, wanted to learn how to look after their bike and need a bit of extra confidence in cycling for everyday journeys. The trial project ran in January 2024 and was completely free of charge to participants.
CLICK HERE to see Bikelife, one of our similar projects, in action on our short video
Priority places were given to Ukrainian adults who don't speak English or who had a low level of English. Other Ukrainian adults who can speak English could also join subject to spaces.
Spaces were limited to just 13 as this was a small trial project.
If participants did not have a bike they were lent a refurbished bike and were often able to keep the bike after the training was complete.
We ran Cycle Lingo throughout January 2024 at the WIlliam Knibb Centre and Wicksteed Park in Kettering.
Programme Stages
The Cycle-Lingo programme was made up of two stages. Session lengths could vary but totalled five hours:
Stage 1: Bike Check, Learn to Fix and Cycle Skills - Three Hours
- 30 mins: Intro. Cycle check and maintenance session by a qualified mechanic. If participants didn't have a bike their requirements were checked (eg height) to find a suitable refurbished bike to borrow and keep at the end if required.
- 90 mins: Learn to fix and maintain the bike: e.g pump up tyres, puncture repairs, safety checks, how to lock securely, etc
- 60 mins: Finished with a session in an empty car park/hard surface playground area to practice cycle control skills such as turning and slow cycling, tips on how to cycle safely.
Stage 2: Cycle Confidence Training, Locking and Route Planning - Two-Hour session.
- 60 mins: Session in an empty car park/hard surface playground area to practice further cycle control skills, tips on how to cycle safely..
- 60 mins: Session to learn to lock and do local route planning.
These sessions were designed for adults who could already ride. However 'learn to ride' sessions for adults were also provided to some participants as part of a different project.
We secured the services of a Ukrainian speaker to act as a liasion, who became our Community Cycle-Lingo coordinator.