Cycling Minds CIC

Cycling Minds was incorporated in Hexham (Northumberland) in November 2021 to help social and health care providers and other local charity and community initiatives who work with disadvantaged young people aged 16 to 24 - especially those experiencing poor mental health and/or long-term unemployment - to improve their health and wellbeing, find their way back into society and reach their full potential.

Cycling Minds forms part of the person-centred care landscape, making a valuable contribution to fulfilling the NHS’s targets for social prescribing under its Comprehensive Model for Personalised Care. Our referrals team and beneficiary mentors will work with social and health care providers to devise specific action plans best suited to each of the young people we engage with, giving them the knowledge and confidence to manage their own mental and physical health through our eight-week Step One(e) guided e-bike ride programme which we also see as forming part of the NHS’s Five Steps to Mental Wellbeing. Step On(e) programme participants will then have the option of continuing to cycle with us as part of our community cycle club.

They will also have the option of joining our Persevere to Succeed training and employability programme where they can receive training and accreditation, where applicable, as bike mechanics, ride leaders and customer service representatives. This will provide them with the skills, experience and self-belief to continue with Cycling Minds as a volunteer or employee or move on to find work elsewhere in the cycling industry and beyond.