Creating a cycling culture with the Cycle Access Fund

Creating a cycling culture in a seaside town with no cycling infrastructure, hills and sea air that can cause extensive salt damage to cycle frames is a challenge. But it’s one that Sea the Change was up for.

Based in Eyemouth in the Scottish Borders, Sea the Change aims to create happier, healthier and more sustainable communities. The charity’s Cycle Shack, set up in 2024, offers a range of services including bike sales, cycle hire, repairs and led rides.

Louise Birkett worked with Cycling UK’s Cycle Access Fund to make Cycle Shack a reality. Louise is the founder and driving force behind Sea the Change, although she has recently stepped down.

She describes the difficulties: “Eyemouth in general doesn’t have a culture of cycling. It goes from sea level to not sea level very quickly.

“The infrastructure isn’t there. I think it’s one of those catch-22 situations where there’s no infrastructure so people don’t cycle and people don’t cycle because there’s no infrastructure.

“On top of that, with the Eyemouth climate, salt damage to bikes is almost immediate and extensive. So maintenance is an issue for people and it’s also quite a low-income area.”

Cycle Access Fund steps up

This is where the Cycle Access Fund came in. “Access to high-quality bikes at an affordable price is just not something normally available in this area. That’s why we were interested in the Cycle Access Fund.”

Funding from the project has enabled significant development of Sea the Change’s cycling programme, Louise explains. The organisation offers e-bike hire at discounted rates and has been able to upgrade its fleet of electric bikes “from more accessible step-through bikes to e-MTBs that have greater appeal to a younger demographic” using the fund.

Access to high-quality bikes at an affordable price is just not something normally available in this area Louise Birkett, Sea the Change

As Louise points out, younger people don’t necessarily want to be seen on a step-through bike, so their new fleet of Ghost electric mountain bikes has helped get more young people on bikes.

“One participant has now bought an e-bike after having loaned one as it offers significantly improved access to local amenities and public transport links,” she says. “Having a bike where he’s able to either get to Reston to get the bus to Berwick or Eyemouth to get the connecting buses is going to be much easier.”

Expanded offering

Funding has meant that the Cycle Shack can offer e-bike hire, repairs and servicing and bike recycling. Louise comments on how it’s helped people with their mental health. Sea the Change uses electric bikes provided by the fund on their free led rides.

“We had a lot of different comments from people where it helped their mental health,” she says. “We had a lady who suffered with social anxiety. She came on about four of the led rides in a row.

“On the fourth one, we were standing around chatting in a group of about five people. She said: ‘I would never have been able to do this a month ago.’ That was just through coming out on the bike, getting that confidence in a group through cycling.”

Repairs and recycling

Repair funding means Sea the Change can offer free repairs to the community. “There’s a young man who is out on his bike all the time. He came in and said there’s something wrong with my bike.”

Louise explains that the Cycle Shack did the repair for him for free because of Cycle Access Fund funding. “Now he’s interested in being a volunteer; he was really grateful,” she adds. “It opened the door to him potentially coming and volunteering for us.”

The recycle fund has meant that Sea the Change has been able to work with Works Plus, a charity that works to find young people entry to employment. “They’ve sent us about five or six referrals. So there’s bikes gone out to help people with getting to work.”

Louise acknowledges that support from Cycle Access Fund has been essential to Sea the Change: “Without Cycling UK, I think our entire project would be in a very different position. The funds and all the support we’ve had from Cycling UK has made such a huge difference.”

It isn’t just about the money, though. “If we have a question, we can just pick up the phone. That’s been really, really, really beneficial, especially as we just started the project in 2024. So as we were learning, it was good to have such a body of knowledge there.”

Family cycling

Louise believes that there are many more people cycling in Eyemouth now. Having the kids’ bike library has encouraged children to start cycling, she explains, and that has meant their parents have come to the Cycle Shack looking for refurbished bikes “so that they can then get out cycling with their kids”.

Sea the Change has also been able to offer kids’ puncture repair clinics, getting children out on bikes and then providing them with the knowledge needed to keep going out.

“I think the amount of people that are now cycling in Eyemouth has vastly increased. It has been key to behavioural change around cycling.”

Sea the Change is making waves in the wider community too. “The local council is now starting to take notice,” adds Louise. “There’s potential for a mountain bike track being developed in Eyemouth. And with that, the council is starting to think about cycle infrastructure and how people will get there.”

This can only be a good thing. Currently Eyemouth is lacking cycling infrastructure. Louise describes the local cycle lanes as “woefully inadequate”. She believes that East Berwickshire doesn’t get as much investment as the central borders.

One of the key things he was focusing on was how we can link up getting from the pump track to the schools on a bike safely Louise Birkett

“It’s a bit out of the way on active travel routes,” Louise explains. “It’s not what they deem a commuter area, so they’re less likely to put work in.”

Improving infrastructure

However, things are set to change, with Eyemouth among the list of towns within the Scottish Borders Council area to benefit from an active travel audit. “So, they’re busy looking now at what they can improve.”

Eyemouth is also set to be on the Borders Greenway route, a new proposed shared access path route running from Tweedbank originally to Reston station. It’s been agreed to extend it to Eyemouth.

“I think there’s just been funding announced that they’re looking to do the design phase for the Eyemouth to Reston section, which would enable people to link in with the railway, which would be a massive benefit.”

There are also plans for a pump track this year. “That’s coming hopefully in June,” says Louise. She’s hoping that will give rise to “a big swell in cycling” which would lead to better and more infrastructure.

“I spoke with someone from Scottish Borders Council about the potential mountain bike track and the pump track, and one of the key things he was focusing on was how we can link up getting from the pump track to the schools on a bike safely. I think it’s making positive steps into the infrastructure being improved in Eyemouth.”

What comes next

When asked about what comes next for Sea the Change, Louise says: “I think it’s just cementing what we’ve already got in place. We’ve had such a big period of growth over the last two years that it’s just making sure that it’s all sustainable and that people know what we’re doing and when we’re doing it.

Consistency is essential for people to know what’s available, when. “Making sure that the led ride happens first Wednesday of the month from March till November. That Dr Bikes happen on that same Wednesday, because that’s when the mechanic can cover us in the shop. That we have a Fix-it Friday, every Friday.”

Sea the Change is part of the Scottish Borders Active Travel Forum and the charity has good links with the council’s active travel team, giving them a strong voice. “If we weren’t here,” Louise concludes, “there would be no one pushing that agenda and no one saying, ‘Well, what about cycling?’”

The Cycle Access Fund receives funding from a Scottish Government People and Place grant, administered and supported in the South-East of Scotland by SEStran.