British Cycling enjoyed success at last night’s UK Coaching Awards, picking up awards for Governing Body of the Year, the Heather Crouch Young Coach of the Year and Coach Developer of the Year.

In achieving the awards in three significant categories, British Cycling showed the strength of its coach development pathways. Highlighting the leadership and innovation shown by the governing body’s coaching and education team and the expertise of its coach developers, the picture was completed by an enthusiastic young volunteer and coach whose aim is for people to participate without limits.

British Cycling saw off strong competition in the governing body of the year category from Badminton England and the Rugby Football League following a year that has seen them undergo a major drive to update their coach development pathways to make coaching cycling more accessible.

In the last 12 months this has seen:

• The number of coaches trained increased by 18%
• Delivery of Level 1 – the entry to the coaching pathway – increased by 73%
• The proportion of female coaches accessing training at Level 1 increased by 6%
• Completion of Level 1 has risen to 96%
• Completion of Level 2 has risen to 84%

In the Heather Crouch Young Coach of the Year Category, British Cycling volunteer Andrew Pink was nominated alongside counterparts from tennis and cricket for his unwavering commitment to coaching, particularly when it comes to supporting people with disabilities. He is currently club head coach at Wyndymilla Go-Ride Club and has devoted a considerable amount of time during the year to providing accessible cycling opportunities to people with varied needs.

Speaking of the award, Andrew said: “It was an honour to be part of an event which celebrates the work of so many inspirational people. Winning the award for me personally is so humbling because the competition was obviously so high; I'm overjoyed and trying to let what happened sink in. I now need to look ahead and see where I can go and what I can do to develop as a coach and person from this point.”

Richard Shepherd was nominated in the Coach Educator of the Year category for his work as a tutor for British Cycling’s coaching and education team. In 2015 Richard delivered over 40 days of coaching education assisting in the development of more than 250 coaches – including work with Andrew Pink.

Richard said: “Development of coaches both in the UK and abroad has been so enjoyable. Being able to guide such keen and motivated coaches through their qualification and knowing that the coaches - but also the riders they work with - gain so much from the sport is very rewarding indeed.

“The award and recognition has just added to the sense of satisfaction I get from working together with coaches and British Cycling.”

Richard also travelled to Namibia as part of the UK Sport IDEALS initiative, to deliver a two-week coach education course to 20 Namibian coaches from all regions of the country. While on the trip he worked closely with the national team coach, whose squad went on to win a silver medal at the African Road Championships – a first ever medal for the team at that level.

British Cycling’s director of coaching, education and development, John Mills, said: “We’re absolutely delighted to see the hard work of our team recognised at this year’s UK Coaching Awards.

“As the governing body for the sport of cycling we understand that in order to produce world class cyclists across all disciplines, you need to have world class coaches. With this in mind, we’re constantly looking at the feedback we receive from participants on our coaching courses and making improvements to ensure they get the best experience to help them on their coaching journey.

“Richard and Andrew are fine examples of the calibre of staff and coaches we have and I would like to commend them both on their wins. Each has gone above and beyond in their delivery and we are incredibly privileged to be able to name them as members of the British Cycling coaching and education team.”