We’ve seen a rise in the number of clubs which have completed, or renewed their Go-Ride accreditation within the past few months.
Congratulations to Edinburgh Road Club, Stirling Bike Club, Falkirk Junior Bike Club, Peebles Cycling Club, Stepping Stanes Youth Cycling Club, Wolfpax Riders, Carnegie Cyclones, Cumbernauld Centurions, Kelso Wheelers, Glasgow Riderz and West Lothian Clarion Cycling Club who have all completed either the accreditation for the first time, or renewed their accreditation, over the last few months.
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.
The Go-Ride Club Accreditation programme covers four key areas:
1) Coaching and Competition
This section ensures that all qualified coaches have appropriate insurance (correct level of BC membership with up-to-date First Aid qualification), that the club provides a structured programme for young people on a traffic-free facility, provide regular competitive opportunities for young people, ensure that the coach:rider ratio is not exceeded and conduct regular risk assessments of their activities.
2) Wellbeing and Protection
Clubs will have adopted Scottish Cycling’s Wellbeing and Protection policy, have a Wellbeing and Protection Officer in place who has completed the required training within the last three years, hold data on all of their members, record attendance at their sessions, have policies in place to deal with accidents and emergencies and have access to first aid equipment.
3) Club Management
Within this section clubs will have renewed their affiliation to Scottish Cycling, actively promote Scottish Cycling membership, use the British Cycling Club Management Tool, record the contact details of all club volunteers, have codes of conduct in place for club volunteers, riders and parents/guardians, have a membership structure for young people, have an appropriate governing document and engage with Scottish Cycling Club Development Managers.
4) Knowing your club and its community
Clubs will demonstrate that they have embedded the Scottish Cycling Equality policy in their club, provide evidence of the clubs commitment to further development and outreach work, evidence regular correspondence with its members and show how they have worked in partnership with another organisation.
We encourage all clubs who run regular youth coaching sessions to engage in the programme. Nearly all of the information required will already be in place and we can support you by providing advice and guidance to fill any gaps – allowing your club to be recognised as a safe, well-organised place for existing and prospective members.
In addition to this, the programme comes with a range of benefits, including seven free British Cycling memberships, access to special events, free unlimited tickets for our annual conference (see details here of this years Scottish Cycling Club Coaching and Development Conference), the opportunity to run Go-Ride Racing (check out the handbook here) and much more.
Once completed, Go-Ride accreditation is valid for three years, after which a simple renewal process is carried out, which ensures that all documents, policies and procedures are up-to-date and still in place.
For more information on the Go-Ride Accreditation programme, please contact Fraser Johnston, Club Development Manager (Young People + Leadership) – Fraser.Johnston@scottishcycling.org.uk
