My initiative is designed for and delivered in London
Yes
I am 18 years of age or above, by the application deadline.
Yes
My organisation is a registered legal entity
Yes
My organisation is a non-profit (e.g. school, university, or local authority) — not a for-profit, which can only join as a partner.
Yes
If there is a for-profit organisation as a partner in my initiative, they work on a cost-recovery basis only.
Yes
My solution is implemented at scale, or if not, I have a clear business plan, a minimum viable solution (prototype, pilot, or proof of concept), and evidence of work or impact in London within your coalition.
Yes
I am aware that, if I am submitting more than one application to a Challenge run by Ashoka and Go! London, only one of them is able to progress through the stages.
Yes
Are you an employee (and their children and grandchildren) of Ashoka or any of its respective affiliates and participating advertising and promotion agencies?
No
I have read and accepted the Challenge Terms & Conditions
1
First Name
Last Name
Pronouns
Email address
I would like to receive notifications and updates about Go London!, Ashoka, Ashoka Changemakers, and other Ashoka opportunities.
Are you an Ashoka Fellow?
Are you applying from an organization founded by an Ashoka Fellow?
If you are applying from an organization founded by an Ashoka Fellow, please specify the name and organisation of the fellow below.
Initiative Title
Redbridge Cycling League
Lead Organization Name
Gapped Cycling CIC
My initiative is designed for and delivered in London
1
Year that you started/ registered your organisation
2023
Website URL(s) or Social Media Handles
www.gapped.co.uk & @gappedcycling on instagram
Initiative Stage
Pilot-Stage (The first activities have happened, and you have proof of concept)
Sectors/Themes: What topic does your project most directly relate to?
Children & Youth
Initiative Summary: Describe your initiative in one sentence
A community-rooted cycling initiative that empowers underrepresented young people in Redbridge to learn, lead and take climate action through cycling, bike-repair upcycling, and safe active-travel routes between schools and parks.
Challenge Focus: What topic does your initiative most directly relate to?
Climate action through awareness and engagement
The Problem: What problem are you helping to solve and who will benefit the most from your solution? How close are you to the problem and/or community impacted?
In Redbridge, many children—particularly those from minority and low-income communities—face significant barriers to safe, sustainable physical activity. Congested roads, poor air quality, and limited access to welcoming sport settings mean young people are becoming less active, more isolated, and more dependent on cars for short journeys. Schools are also under pressure: outdoor spaces feel unsafe, cycling confidence is low, and families often lack the skills or equipment to choose active, low-carbon travel. These issues are even more acute for autistic and vulnerable young people, many of whom rely on structured outdoor activity but are disproportionately affected by pollution, heat and overstimulating environments. Our initiative responds directly to these challenges by using cycling—a low-carbon, low-cost, climate-resilient sport—to give young people safe, enjoyable and sustainable ways to move. Through school workshops, green-route mapping, bike-repair upcycling, and a borough-wide cycling league, we help children build climate literacy, confidence and independence. Gapped is deeply embedded in this community. We coach hundreds of young people weekly across East London, including Redbridge, and work closely with families and schools facing these barriers. This gives us a lived, authentic understanding of the challenges and a trusted role in solving them.
Your approach: How are you addressing the problem outlined above? How are you using the power of sport and physical activity to build awareness, shift behavior, and enable sustainable participation for all in response to the climate crisis? We'd love to know about the origin of your idea, and what was your "aha" moment" that led you to take action?
Our approach is built on over a decade of lived experience promoting cycling in communities who have traditionally been excluded from it. When I first got on a bike in 2012, everyone around me thought I was crazy. When we began promoting cycling publicly in 2015, the same fears surfaced again and again: “It’s too dangerous. The roads aren’t made for us. It’s not for people like us.” Ten years later, nothing has changed — and as a parent of two young children, I now feel the urgency more than ever. Getting around London with kids is completely different from cycling as a young, fit adult. Heat, traffic, pollution, unsafe routes, and rising costs affect families first. This is where the Redbridge Cycling League was born. We realised that for many young people, their biggest barriers were fear of the roads, lack of confidence, and — surprisingly — broken bikes. Almost every week a child tells us they can’t ride because their bike “needs repairs,” which in 99% of cases is a five-minute fix. A simple repair can unlock a child’s confidence, their independence, and a completely different relationship with movement and the environment. Our solution uses cycling as a tool for climate awareness, behaviour change, and climate-resilient participation. Through school workshops, safe green-route mapping, and bike-repair upcycling sessions, we help young people understand air quality, carbon impact, and how active travel can transform their neighbourhoods. The Redbridge Cycling League brings this to life by giving children structured, joyful, low-carbon opportunities to ride, compete, and lead climate action in their schools and parks. It’s a model rooted in real barriers, lived experience, and a community that has asked for something different for far too long.
Collaboration with young people and the community: In what ways does your initiative engage young people and community members closest to the problem? What role do they play in building the solution you deliver?
Our entire approach is built with young people, not for them. The Redbridge Cycling League will be shaped directly by the children, families and schools who face these barriers every day. Rather than imposing a fixed programme, we work with young people to understand what they enjoy, what feels safe, and what motivates them to stay active. The League structure, the type of challenges, and even the style of workshops will be co-designed with local pupils so the whole initiative reflects their voices. Not every young person wants to “race”, so we are creating a League that includes both competitive and non-competitive formats. Skills challenges, team-based activities, time trials, exploration rides, scavenger hunts and creative climate tasks will sit alongside races — ensuring every child can participate in a way that feels right for them. This approach came directly from young people telling us they want cycling to be fun, social and confidence-building, not just performance-based. We also work with young people to identify what stops them riding. Over the past few years, the most consistent barrier we hear is: “My bike needs repairing.” These conversations have shaped one of the core pillars of the League — free repair and upcycling workshops designed around what they need: fixing punctures, adjusting brakes, straightening handlebars, and bringing unused bikes back to life. This gives young people ownership, independence and the ability to stay active sustainably.
Potential for/Evidence of Impact: How do you imagine your initiative will make a difference in raising climate awareness, shifting behaviors, or reducing environmental impact or harm? If you have already implemented it, what difference have you made so far? What is the impact your initiative has had¡, and/or what impact do you envision having in the future?
We believe the Redbridge Cycling League can create long-lasting change because we’ve already seen this model succeed elsewhere. Hackney’s school cycling league has run for over a decade and is widely recognised as one of the key reasons the borough is now one of the leading cycling areas in the capital. When children grow up cycling weekly — with structure, motivation and positive peer culture — it becomes normal, expected and sustainable. Our ambition is to bring that same long-term impact to Redbridge, with additional layers of climate education, repair skills and inclusive participation. Our track record across East London shows we can deliver this. In Hounslow and surrounding boroughs, our school workshops consistently lead to children joining our weekend clubs, families switching to active travel, and teachers reporting noticeable improvements in confidence, social skills and wellbeing. Parents regularly tell us their children are “finally excited to cycle again,” and our Google reviews — all 5-star — reflect praise from parents, schools, councils and community organisations. Most recently, our impact was formally recognised when we won British Cycling’s Community Club of the Year. This award confirms not only the scale of our reach, but the depth of trust and effectiveness we have built within diverse communities. The Redbridge Cycling League will raise climate awareness by helping young people understand how air quality, heat and traffic affect their daily lives — and how cycling offers a practical, low-carbon alternative. Repair and upcycling workshops will reduce waste and give children the skills to keep bikes in use. Green-route mapping will encourage families to replace short car journeys with safer, low-pollution routes.
Innovation: What is different about your initiative compared to other solutions that are already out there? How is your approach original and innovative?
What makes our initiative truly different is that we are one of the only organisations operating a fully end-to-end, totalitarian model of cycling delivery — from learn-to-ride, skills development and school engagement, to race teams, community hubs, repair workshops and long-distance tours. We don’t just run sessions; we build whole cultures around cycling. This gives us a unique ability to design solutions that address every layer of the problem: safety, confidence, equipment, community norms, climate awareness and long-term behaviour change. The Redbridge Cycling League is innovative because it brings together elements that rarely coexist in one programme. It combines climate education, active travel, bike-repair upcycling, green-route mapping, and youth leadership with a borough-wide league model that has proven success elsewhere but has never been adapted for climate resilience. Instead of treating cycling as only a sport or only a mode of transport, we treat it as a climate tool, a confidence-building mechanism, a community builder and a long-term behaviour shifter. Our approach also challenges deep-rooted norms. In many minority and underserved communities, cycling is still seen as unsafe, impractical or “not for us.” By embedding cycling into schools, offering non-competitive formats, making repairs accessible, and creating visible youth leaders, we normalise active travel for families who typically face the highest barriers. This is a structural intervention, not just a programme. The innovation also sits in the repair and upcycling element. Instead of encouraging families to buy new bikes, we teach young people how to maintain and restore what they already have. This reduces waste, builds independence, and addresses one of the biggest hidden blockers.
Roles and Responsibilities: Describe how responsibilities are shared among your team or partners.
This initiative is built on strong partnerships and a clear division of responsibilities across our team and local stakeholders. We are already in the process of establishing a similar school cycling league in Newham, which has helped us refine our delivery model. In Newham, we work closely with the Council and Parks Team to secure access to safe outdoor spaces, while Gapped brings the coaching team, bikes, helmets, risk assessments and session delivery. This experience forms the foundation for how we will deliver the Redbridge Cycling League. In Redbridge, we already have active partnerships in place. We work with the Council and have permission from Vision RCL to use Goodmayes Park as one of our ongoing cycling hubs, giving us a consistent, safe and accessible base for League activities. We also partner with Ekota Academy, who support us by storing bikes and equipment, enabling us to operate efficiently across the borough. Within Gapped, responsibilities are shared across a dedicated, experienced team. Our qualified cycling coaches and instructors will deliver school workshops, green-route mapping sessions, League events and bike-repair upcycling workshops. Our in-house driver will transport bikes and equipment to schools and parks as needed, ensuring every school can participate regardless of access to facilities. Our admin and operations team will coordinate with schools, manage registration, scheduling and safeguarding, and oversee communication with parents and partners.
Viability and Scalability: How are you setting your organization up for success, and what is your plan to ensure operational sustainability of your solution and its impact? What are your ideas for scaling your initiative to the next level?
We are setting this initiative up for long-term success by building it on top of structures that already exist and already work. Gapped currently delivers cycling programmes in multiple boroughs, operates several community hubs, supplies and transports our own fleet of bikes, and has a skilled team of coaches, drivers and administrators. This operational foundation means the Redbridge Cycling League is not a new or risky venture — it is a natural extension of work we are already delivering successfully in East London, Hounslow and soon Newham. Sustainability begins with our partnerships. We are already working with Redbridge Council and Vision RCL to secure ongoing access to Goodmayes Park, and with Ekota to store bikes locally, reducing transport and costs. Schools will provide indoor space for workshops and support active travel initiatives, embedding the programme into the school day. These partnerships reduce overheads and ensure the League becomes part of the local ecosystem rather than a standalone project. Operationally, our model is low-cost and efficient. Cycling requires minimal infrastructure, and our repair/upcycling workshops extend the life of equipment and reduce waste. Our established hubs and existing fleet allow us to scale without large capital investment. Our track record — from school workshops to weekend clubs — shows consistent demand.
Upcoming Milestones: Please provide an overview of the milestones that are required for your initiative to come to fruition/ to grow.
Our milestones are structured around school calendars, preparation time, and the delivery of a monthly league from October 2026 to July 2027. 1. Partnership Confirmation (Summer 2026) Finalise agreements with Redbridge Council, Vision RCL and participating schools Confirm bike storage and equipment logistics with Ekota Map suitable parks, school grounds and safe green routes for the League 2. School Recruitment & Scheduling (Jul–Aug 2026) Secure 10–15 schools for the pilot year Finalise autumn workshop and session timetables Identify pupils for the Youth Ride Leader programme 3. Operational Setup (Jul–Aug 2026) Service and prepare our full fleet of bikes Plan bike transport routes for each school Train staff on climate-aware delivery, heat/pollution protocols and safeguarding 4. School Programme Launch (Sep 2026) Deliver climate-literacy assemblies and classroom workshops Begin green-route mapping rides with each school Start repair & upcycling workshops so children can participate from day one 5. Youth Ride Leader Programme (Sep–Oct 2026) Train 20–30 young people in leadership, safety and climate awareness Integrate them into workshop delivery and League support roles 6. Monthly Redbridge Cycling League Events (Oct 2026–Jul 2027) Host monthly skills days, non-competitive challenges and inter-school events Track participation, behaviour change, repair outcomes and climate impact Use indoor school halls during winter months to maintain consistency Maintain parent, school and student engagement throughout 7. Borough Showcase Event (Jul 2027) Final League event and awards ceremony Hosted at Redbridge Cycling Centre or the Olympic Velodrome (Stratford) Celebrate schools, youth leaders and families Share climate impact data, repair outcomes and green-route maps 8. Evaluation & Scaling (Jul–Sep 2027) Conduct surveys and feedback groups with pupils, parents and schools Identify new schools for Year 2 Begin planning cross-borough events with Newham and Hounslow This structure sets the initiative up for consistent engagement, strong climate learning, and a clear path to scale.
Capacity-Building Participation and Support Funding: If you were to make it as a finalist, you will be required to participate in an 8-week capacity building programme. If funding/ cost is a barrier to your participation, we may be able to offer up to 10,000 GBP of grant money available to support you. Please break down below, if it is the case, what costs you would incur and you would need covered. (Please note that there are restrictions on how the grant money may be used; please refer to the T&Cs for further details (LINK).
If selected as a finalist, we would welcome support to cover the additional operational costs required for our team to fully participate in the 8-week capacity building programme. The main barrier for us is staffing time and logistics. A breakdown of the costs we would need covered is below: 1. Staff Time / Backfilling (£4,000–£5,000) To ensure we can attend all sessions, workshops and mentoring without disrupting our ongoing school programmes, we would need to cover part-time backfill for coaching and admin staff. This ensures continuity of delivery while senior staff engage in the capacity-building programme. 2. Travel and Transport (£800–£1,200) Costs for travel across London to programme sessions, workshops, site visits and peer learning events for up to two team members.
