Go-Ride Clubs provide coaching sessions for young people in traffic-free spaces. Our Go-Ride club accreditation process, gives riders and parents alike the confidence in knowing that a club is well run, has appropriate procedures in place and is a safe place for children and young people to get into cycling and support talented riders to realise their potential.

Our most recent club to complete this, is Annan Youth Cycling Club, based in Annan, Dumfries and Galloway. We caught up their Head Coach, Philip Bertram (Bertie), to find out about the clubs history, why they think Go-Ride is important and how Scottish Cycling supported them throughout the process.

So Bertie, tell us about how the club was established?

“AYCC was formed after a successful Sports Academy event run by Annandale and Eskdale District Council with the support of Scottish Cycling in 2009.

During these early days, the 3 founding coaches were put through their Level 2 Coaching Cycling Awards – allowing them to broaden their knowledge and organise a number of Go-Ride races. 

Over the 10 years of the clubs existence, we have taken on the responsibility for the Seaforth Pavilion in Annan which has provided the club somewhere to store all our coaching equipment and the fleet of bikes we have which ensure everyone can join in our session.  The facility also allows us use of an enclosed grass area and we have an arrangement with a nearby Primary School to us their playground to run our sessions in a safe and enclosed environment.

 Sessions also take place at Hoddom Castle Caravan park which is closed during the winter and allows us to practice off-road skills in a safe environment”.

How did the Go-Ride accreditation process support the management and organisation of your club activities?

“The accreditation process allowed us to review our processes and see where we could improve and formalise things to make the running of the club smoother.  It allowed us to review our Club Constitution which was a minor thing but given the assets of the Club, it was useful to re-consider the future.  Whilst we were confident that a great deal of the equality and diversity elements of the process were being dealt with, it was useful to have a formal set of guidelines to help us think about this. 

Asking Clubs to consider their future direction is an important part of this process, whilst we start each term with a plan about what we want to do, formalising this into a development plan is good as it allows us to focus on the direction of the club and realise our strengths and weaknesses. 

Whilst the process was NOT around creating paperwork for a tick box exercise, the whole process did make you think about how you convey information to your members and what they might need to know. For us, it led us to create a welcome pack for new members”.

How did Scottish Cycling support the club in achieving Go-Ride status?

“Scottish Cycling through our Regional Development Officer have always been an easily accessible point of contact. We found that they were always at the end of an email to confirm anything in relation to the process. They provided guidance throughout and outlined anything we needed to revise or review to meet the minimum standards. They were constructive in their feedback which has improved some of our practices and made our constitution more future proof”.

What would you say to other clubs considering embarking upon the Go-Ride process?

“Go for it! The chances are, you will already have most of the processes and procedures in place, but it is good to have someone sense-check them, to ensure they are fit-for-purpose.  It introduces you to succession plan with volunteers and plan for the future club development. The Go-Ride Accreditation process is a badge of honour and a pat on the back to all involved”.

Congratulations to Annan Youth CC on being awarded Go-Ride status. The club joins over 30 clubs across Scotland that are recognised by Scottish Cycling as meeting the standards of the award

Are you interested in finding out more?

Get in touch with our Regional Development team by contacting RegionalDevelopment@scottishcycling.org.uk