Projects Funded in Barrow

Organisation: Youthability Youth Services

Project Title: Scootability

Funding Received: £13,934.84 (October 2023 – May 2025)

Project Outline: 

'Scootability', aims to use scooters to enable young people with special educational needs and disabilities to become more active in a fun and positive way. By doing this, the young people will build their confidence to be more independent in the wider community.

The project will last just under two years with over 50 young people benefitting, as we as their families and friends. Youthability also intend to engage with the young people at George Hastwell School and the young carers at Furness Carers by working collaboratively to hold workshops and participation events.

Organisation: Age UK Barrow and District Limited 

Project Title: Promenade Pedallers 

Funding Received: £2,208 (Augsut 2024 - October 2024)

Project Outline: 

The Promenade Pedallers project launched with a Cycling Festival during summer 2024, with the aim to target older people aged 60 and over. The Cycling Festival aimed to introduce stimulating methods of cycling and different ways to cycle to the older population.

Park Vale Sports Stadium, on Walney, was the venue for a variety of activities, such as E-Bike and E-Trike tasters, standard bike and adapted bike confidence building and Trike challenges. The event incorporated food and music, as well as a guided rides for those ready for an early challenge.

The following four weeks during early Autumn were used to reinforce the impact of the introductory festival, by offering a prospectus of different cycling activities to maintain and further stimulate the participants’ interest in, and enthusiasm for, cycling and in becoming “Promenade Pedallers”, promoting the cycling mobility and fitness ethos, as well as the opportunities for socialisation and making pedalling partnerships with others.

Organisation: Abbots Vale Community Centre

Project Title: Abbots Vale Oasis – a place for Friendship, Movement and the Exploration of the Senses 

Funding Received: £35,177.20 (August 2024 – August 2026)

Project Outline: 

Abbots Vale Oasis seeks to develop a unique oasis of calm, colour, appropriate opportunities for physical activity, in a safe and welcoming environment. Essentially, ‘Movement, Companionship and the Mind’.

The land will be developed, with a ‘trail’ 72 metres long, interweaving throughout the sensory sections of the space, to gently target and enhance all seven senses.

• A safe haven for people to gather and interact
• To experience an adventure of the senses
• An interactive movement zone for those with mobility issues, long term health conditions and older populations
• Surface suitable for those using strollers and wheelchairs, so entirely inclusive, and unique for Barrow-in-Furness
• Adaptable so toddlers can safely explore their development on balance bikes
• Allow target audiences a much-needed safe haven to develop low level activity

The area through which the track/path interweaves, which is wide enough for all types of inclusive ‘wheels’ will incorporate:

• Wind chimes and musical enhancements
• Colourful flower beds to stimulate sense of vision
• Flowers to stimulate sense of smell
• Floor surfacing to stimulate variety in touch
• Panels with varied touch/sensory surfaces
• Seating areas
• Beds to grow and develop plants and vegetable/fruits

Organisation: Vision Support Barrow and District

Project Title: Barrow Buddies

Funding Received: £23,144

Project Outline: 

Vision Support Barrow and District will deliver the ‘Barrow Buddies’ project, over the course of one year, which has two main components:

Sighted Guide Volunteers – Recruit and train dedicated sighted guide volunteers in Barrow, who will be matched with people who are vision impaired and struggling with orientation, mobility and confidence to engage with their local community.  The volunteers will provide support to help improve fitness and confidence, by walking short and purposeful routes with their buddy to help them learn the way to important places such as the health centre, local shops, places of worship etc.

Encouraging and supporting them to engage with the wider community resources that are often inaccessible to someone with sight loss such as social groups, health checks etc.  Allowing them to do this by walking or using local bus services, removing the over-reliance on taxis which is detrimental to their financial well-being and to the environment. 

Barrow Buddies Walking Group – To deliver regular walking trips, by setting up a Ramblers wellbeing walking group, to meet monthly in the colder months and weekly in the warmer months.  They would facilitate access to green spaces, the beach, and other places, such as the sea front at Grange Over Sands, Coniston and Windermere.

Organisation: The Hiking Household

Project Title: North Walney Maps

Funding Received: £1,640

Project Outline: The Hiking Household has developed a physical and digital map outlining the new infrastructure connecting Vickerstown Park to Earnse Bay in Barrow-in-Furness. The map identifies areas of interest along the route, bus stops, parking and other facilities. It also educates the user on the health benefits of active travel and signposts them to Barrow on Bikes for support with maintaining their bikes at a low cost. See the map here. 

Organisation: Clear Pathways

Project Title: Get Active, Travel Safely

Funding Received: £14,640 (April 2025-present) 

Project Outline:  Clear Pathways CIC works closely with DWP to identify individuals who are looking for a path back into work and would benefit from a helping hand. Through their ‘Get Active, Travel Safely’ project the participants are given access to bicycles to allow them independence to travel whilst being taught how to maintain them and ride safely through structured courses. Working with their partner gym Transform Physiques the team at Clear Pathways make sure the participants are fit and ready to ride through confidence sessions in the gym environment and bespoke strength sessions. Barrow on Bikes also welcome referrals from the team for work experience opportunities in their bike hubs. A collaborative, innovative programme for those in the community who are looking for their path back to working life.

Organisation: Ulverston Bike Project (Community Solutions)

Project Title: Make a Difference-Change Perception

Funding Received: £5,400

Project Outline:  Ulverston Bike Project have received funding to support two of their volunteers to undertake Cytech Technical Two training, a two week course taking place in Glasgow. One of the volunteers is registered blind, but has been fixing bikes at the project for many years. Having two volunteers trained with this industry standard qualification will allow for an higher standard of bike repair and repurpose, whilst at the same time bringing on the skills and knowledge of other volunteers on the project.

Ulverston Bike Project are also collaborating with Barrow in Bikes CIC, with the delivery of a number of Dr Bike sessions, delivered in schools and community groups. The newly trained volunteers are showing children within schools that barriers can be overcome, through  delivery of fun educational sessions during the Dr Bike delivery, allowing the youngsters to see a mechanic who is blind still able to expertly fix bikes and teach others.

Organisation: Barrow on Bikes

Project Title: Gearing Up: Ride and Belong

Funding Received: £19,520

Project Outline: Barrow on Bikes “Gearing Up: Ride & Belong” project is an inclusive, community-led cycling programme based at Park Vale Stadium, Walney. This initiative will promote active travel, build confidence, and foster social inclusion for people across Barrow—particularly young people, older adults, disabled residents, ethnically diverse communities, and those from low-income backgrounds. The project involves weekly inclusive cycling opportunities and ‘Dr Bike’ mobile repair pop-ups sessions which provide free minor repairs, safety checks, and cycling advice.

Organisation: Hurrecance

Project Title: Wheels for Hire

Funding Received: £33,064 (May 25 - April 2026)

Project Outline:  Wheels for Hire is an e-bike rental service for both Barrow and Carlisle in which member of the Barrow and Carlisle community have the opportunity to rent an e-bike for just £10 per month over a 6 month period. This is aimed at those who would otherwise struggle to access transport giving them independence to travel actively for every day journeys.