Cycle Access Fund
About the Cycle Access Fund
The Cycle Access Fund (CAF) supports those least likely to have access to a bike by providing capital grants to organisations through five different funding strands.
The fund is open to a wide range of organisations and provides a variety of opportunities for people to access bikes in an affordable, easy, and convenient way.
CAF offers direct capital funding to communities and organisations who are getting people on bikes. Cycling makes a vital contribution to reducing health and income inequality and makes our communities safer and more pleasant by reducing short car journeys.
We know that many people in Scotland experience barriers to accessing a cycle. By offering funding across five strands, we aim to tackle different barriers and help more people cycle.
The five funding strands are:
- Strand 1: Individual Bike Ownership: Funding for organisations that work with people who are struggling financially or who need access to a non-standard bike due to health or mobility issues. This funding is designed to support individuals who would not be able to afford to buy a bike themselves.
- Strand 2: Shared Use: Funding for organisations to purchase cycles and equipment that enable sharing schemes such as bike libraries, bike subscription schemes, loan cycles and bike share schemes. Successful applications should demonstrate how you will meet a particular need in your community, promoting inclusivity and supporting those who are least likely to have access to a cycle of their own.
- Strand 3: Recycle: Funding for bike repair organisations and bike recycling centres to refurbish cycles for donation to people that are financially struggling.
- Strand 4: Repair: Funding for bike repair organisations, bike recycling centres, and bike shops to carry out essential cycle repairs for people who are financially struggling.
- Strand 5: Cycle parking and storage: Funding to purchase facilities for storing or parking cycles; or improvements to existing facilities, such as shelves, hooks or racks.
Eligibility
The Cycle Access Fund is only available to organisations that successfully complete the application process. Individual people should not apply.
Eligible organisations should be constituted or registered. Examples of organisations eligible to apply to CAF include, but are not limited to; community groups, charities and constituted organisations (CICs, SCIOs etc); commercial businesses and sole traders; housing associations and organisations in the NHS; schools, colleges, nurseries and further education organisations etc. This list is for example purposes only and is not definitive.
In 2026-27, we have been funded by three Regional Transport Partnerships (RTP) in Scotland, which means that the Cycle Access Fund is being provided only in specific regions of Scotland.
The Cycle Access Fund is available to organisations whose work takes place in SPT, Sestran and ZetTrans. Please refer to the map to see which local authority areas are eligible.
If you are still unsure of your eligibility or which strand to apply for please see our FAQs, or contact the Cycle Access Fund Team at [email protected] to discuss suitability.
Application deadline
The Cycle Access Fund accepts applications on a rolling basis throughout the year and is open for applications until the allocated funds for each RTP region are distributed. There is no formal deadline, but all successful applications must be reviewed and approved; and all funds distributed before 31 March 2027.
Strand 1: Individual Bike Ownership
This funding is for organisations that work with people who are struggling financially. It is designed to support individuals who would not be able to afford to buy a bike themselves. This funding will be very limited.
Strand 2: Shared Use
This funding is for organisations to purchase cycles and equipment that enable cycle-sharing schemes such as bike libraries, pool cycles, bike subscription schemes, loan cycles and bike share schemes. Successful applications should demonstrate how you will meet a particular need in your community, promoting inclusivity and supporting those who are least likely to have access to a cycle of their own.
Strand 3: Recycle
This funding is for bike repair organisations and bike recycling centres to refurbish cycles for donation to people who are financially struggling.
Strand 4: Repair
This funding is for bike repair organisations, bike recycling centres and bike shops to repair cycles which are unsafe or unusable belonging to people who are financially struggling.
Strand 5: Cycle Parking and Storage
This fund is for organisations that want to support and grow everyday cycling. It can be used to make your site more welcoming to visitors arriving by bike, or to help encourage staff, students or residents to choose active travel. It also supports organisations that run bike recycling or repair services but need more space to expand their work. This fund is aimed at small storage projects and will be capped at a maximum of £5000. If you need storage space for your shared use application, you will need to make a separate application.
If you are unsure which strand to apply for, please see our FAQs or contact the project team to discuss suitability at [email protected]
Support and impact
Whether you're looking for guidance on buying bikes, storing them securely, or seeing how the fund is making a difference, the links below offer helpful tools and insights.
Funded by
