British Cycling Reaps Rewards as Sport England Pledges Increased Financial Support

British Cycling’s Chief Executive Ian Drake has welcomed the news that Sport England has awarded the sports governing body £32 million to grow grassroots cycling over the next four years. 

Sport England today announced a £493 million four-year investment to keep the inspiration of London 2012 alive.

Cycling, netball, wheelchair basketball and triathlon are among the sports being rewarded for their strong plans and excellent progress on grassroots sport, all receiving funding increases of over 30 per cent.

Drake is particularly excited about the announcement: “Today’s Sport England funding announcement is a recognition of the good work done by British Cycling members and volunteers in driving grassroots participation and a challenge for us to do even better in the next four years.

“Whether it is for winning medals or for getting people active, we are proud of our record of delivering value for lottery funding and we take the responsibility very seriously.

“There is still a great deal of work to do in making cycling in this country better. We’re looking forward to getting stuck in.”

Sport England’s Chief Executive, Jennie Price, said: “This investment represents Years 5 to 8 of our long term plan to get more people playing sport. We’ve learned a lot over the last four years and with a record 15.5 million people already playing sport once a week, we are on track to deliver. We have worked very hard, with the governing bodies of sport, to make these decisions, and I believe they are right.”

Minister for Sport Hugh Robertson said: “This public investment of almost half a billion pounds for grassroots sport will help us deliver a real legacy from the London 2012 Games. We want all sports governing bodies to help inspire a generation and create a culture where people have a sporting habit for life.”