My Name is Shazia and I live in Liverpool from nearly 20 years. I was going through bereavement when I joined active citizen course last year to keep things off my mind.   

Through Active Citizen course I  built up my knowledge and understanding of the local community.  I had an idea of project which could benefit the community so I started to develop the project through planning and management skills and With the support of Kuumba Imani I was able to set up a project Women On Bikes". The idea was to encourage and empower women  to take part in cycling  and learn new skills. It was especially targeted to those women who were less likely to have this opportunity due to cultural diversity. 

Aims of my Project: 

• To improve women's physical and mental Health
• To get fit and socialize with like-minded people
• To learn new skills and feel independent
• To reduce isolation during pandemic crisis 
• To take part in environmentally friendly activities in a practical way. 

I have 32 women participants and 4 leaders.  To date women who participated in my project are from different background and mainly Muslim women.  Initial surveys have indentified unhealthy lifestyles which include little physical activity and lack of awareness of healthy eating. Feedback since I started this project has highlighted a positive mood and feeling of more energetic. Especially during the pandemic crisis, cycling really made difference in women's life. 

Women who could not ride a bicycle at the start of the this project, whithin two weeks completed a cycle journey over 20 miles in rain. There are more women in waiting list to join cycling. 

Vision:

- To train and support women as volunteers and leaders

- improve women's physical and mental health

-engaging women via cycling and health events

- longer trips around merseyside 

- extend the initiative into other cities in the NW 

funds raised will help me to achieve above goals and to purchase some safety equipments for cycling. 

Objectives

• Increase the number of women’s cycle rides in South Liverpool

 • Develop a variety of different types of trips, such as:- Longer trips around Merseyside

 - Day trips out of the city

 - Family camping trips in Wales

- Cycling holidays abroad

 • Offer support, training and mentoring for women who wish to take on more responsibility for delivering the project

• Run health seminars and other awareness raising events for women

 • Focus on issues such as:

-Depression
- Eating habits
- Physical health

-Health issues affecting Asian women and those from other ethnic groups

• Develop links with groups in cities such as Birmingham, Bradford and towns in East Lancashire and support them in: 

- promoting cycling to improve women’s health and wellbeing
- setting up regular cycling trips and health seminars
- training and empowering women