The cycle scheme working towards greater diversity - BBC

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By Elliot Trundler

BBC England

The organiser of a scheme to help people from diverse backgrounds take up cycling has said he wants to "remove barriers" from the activity.

Ibe Hayter set up Cycle of Life in Toxteth to deliver riding sessions and bicycle maintenance classes as a way to provide "equal access" to the hobby.

The scheme, set up in 2020, has already taught cycling skills to children, asylum seekers and Muslim mothers.

Mr Hayter said it had helped people "feel part of the city".

Mr Hayter, along with a team of staff and volunteers, works with children from low-income families as well as people in the community, many who have never cycled before with the aim of teaching how to cycle safely and bikes maintenance.

"It's very central to our aims that ethnic minority children are given the opportunity to cycle," he said.

"Once they get to have a go at it they get a love for it. It just gives them so much freedom and independence."

Mr Hayter has also worked with Liverpool City Council to develop a cycling programme aimed at unaccompanied asylum seekers who are living in the city.

Yasser Hadi Aldifayri, 18, originally from Kuwait, said the scheme had helped him make new friends and learn vocabulary specific to cycling as well as local slang.

"They teach us a lot of things, different parts of the bike like seat, wheel and chain and now it's easy for me to fix my bike," he said.

"Liverpool is great. People help me. When I ask they always help.

"This programme is very much not just about cycling, it's also about the young people feeling part of the city, to get to know their peers and make friendships that last past the course."

Cycle of Life, based at The Kuumba Imani Millenium Centre on Princes Road, also runs a programme tailored towards encouraging more Muslim women to cycle.