Wheels and Walks

We’ve helped more than 30 groups receive the funding they need to offer excellent services to the local community.

Joining local groups, like those listed below, is a great way of building confidence, meeting new people and getting active.

Find one near you.

Bolton

• KRIMMZ Girls Youth Club: Helping women and girls aged 6-18 years to cycle, through the provision of loan bikes and equipment, coaching lessons, and led rides as part of their ‘Pedal Power’ activity.

• Inspire: Serving Your Community: Encouraging black, minority and ethic 14-25-year-olds to get into hiking through their ‘Step Up’ activity.

• Migrant Haven: The programme will empower migrants and local residents in Bolton to walk and cycle confidently by providing guided group activities, training and bicycles for those most in need, to help connect people with their community.

• Bolton Nigerian Muslim Community (BNMC): A community cycling programme supporting women and girls in Bolton to build confidence, develop skills, and adopt cycling as a regular and accessible form of active travel.

• Horwich Ride Social: A series of short bike rides (Re-Start) or/and basic bike skills session starting from Queens Park, Bolton led by our qualified volunteer ride leaders, using the participants bike or one of theirs.

Bury

• The Sunnywood Project: Guided walks for Toddlers and their parents and carers to encourage walking from an early age. The walks will include stories, song and appreciation and exploration of the natural world, with an emphasis on using walking as a mode of transport for short journeys with young children.

• Bury Youth Steps-to-Success: Empowering Active Communities will deliver twice-weekly women-only guided walking sessions, monthly themed walks, behaviour change workshops, Walking Champions training, and community events to encourage physical activity and social connection.

Manchester

• Bike it Walk It CIC: Building confidence and competence in women from black, minority and ethnic communities to walk and cycle through their ‘On Your Doorstep and Reluctant Riders’ activity.

• Burnage Buddies Community Group: Delivering organised group walks combined with public transport to points of interest for women over 50 from black, minority and ethnic communities through their ‘Burnage Buddies are Coming to Town’ activity.

• LGBT Foundation Ltd: A national charity with LGBTQ+ health and wellbeing at the heart of everything they do. LGBT Foundation’s Recovery Team run monthly wellbeing walks, offering an affirming space for vulnerable LGBTQ+ adults to explore Manchester’s green spaces, build connections, and grow their mental wellbeing in nature.

• Manchester Deaf Centre: Over 12 months this gradually expanding programme supports deaf participants through alternating indoor and outdoor walking sessions to build confidence, skills, and leadership, with the goal of establishing a sustainable deaf-led walking group led by trained Champions.

• Manchester Jewish School for Special Education: A comprehensive programme developing practical walking, wheeling, and cycling skills for pupils with special educational needs, building confidence and independence for sustainable active travel within their community.

• Green Fingers Moston Community Group: Supporting adults & elderly people with mental and physical health problems in Manchester to move and socialise more through regular cycling sessions and led rides at the bike library at no 93 Wellbeing Centre.

• One Manchester Ltd: To increase access to cycling opportunities for under 16s living in East Manchester and embed cycling confidence and lifelong behaviours for improved wellbeing and active travel.

• Station South CIC : Connecting children and women from black, minority and ethnic backgrounds with cycling and people-powered short journeys through a series of cycling and walking events and workshops as part of their ‘Start Cycling to School with Station South’ activity.

• Walking Mums Club CIC: Supporting mental and physical health of new parents through a walking, support and educational group as part of their ‘Mama Leaders’ activity.

• Whalley Range Women’s Walking Group: A gentle intergenerational walking programme connecting older and younger women through accessible walks, a buddy system, and shared storytelling to build confidence, friendship, and lifelong active travel habits.

• Women's Voices CIC: Their programme will motivate and support black and racially minoritised women, who are currently inactive, to exercise weekly together in local walking groups, and travel monthly in groups to explore and walk in other parks, spaces and places of interest across Greater Manchester (& produce a booklet of walks). They will also train ‘walking champions’ to continue to lead these groups regularly post project and to educate more people in the community about the importance of active travel for both their own benefit and to benefit the environment.

• Yaran Northwest: Routes to Wellbeing will encourage BAME women, families, and older people in Greater Manchester to adopt walking and wheeling for everyday journeys through seasonal guided walks, accessible route workshops, and bilingual community champions.

• Bollyfit Active CIC: A culturally sensitive wellbeing programme that empowers women through movement, trauma-informed healing, and community connection offering safe, inclusive spaces to restore and reflect, through embedding active travel principles and knowledge of local green spaces and public transport.

• Community Revival UK (LTD): Empowering men and women to overcome their social exclusion and improve their physical health, mental wellbeing, through inclusive walking and cycling activities, while building confidence, independence, and dismantling digital barriers.

• Europia: Europia Connected Commuters promotes equitable, safe and active commutes for migrant shift workers, providing multilingual guides, onboarding, and ongoing support to access Starling Bikes.

• GMYN: Cycle and Thrive supports vulnerable young people across Manchester to build confidence, skills, and independence through inclusive group cycling sessions, bike maintenance workshops, and safe led rides in their local and wider communities

• Levenshulme Lovely Ladies: To improve women health and confidence to make them and connected to places and community cohesion.

• Stride UK Foundation Limited: Funding to deliver bike maintenance workshops and cycling proficiency qualifications for young people excluded from school and those at risk of involvement in crime, as part of Stride UK’s Alternative Provision and We Move mentoring programme at Ardwick Sports Hall.

• The Resonance Centre: They gather weekly to walk and wheel in our neighbourhood, to develop a sense of safety and to creatively discuss themes relating to our health and wellbeing where we live, actively engaging in health creation.

• Ugandan Community in Greater Manchester: Encouraging Black African families in Greater Manchester to walk and wheel regularly through fun, culturally relevant fortnightly walks in local parks, ending with a shared community picnic.

Oldham

• Autism Family Support: An inclusive programme helping disabled children and families build confidence through sensory walks, indoor mobility, and adaptive cycling.

• Mahdlo Youth Zone: Supporting children and young adults aged 8-19 with a disability, through bike servicing and maintenance training, road safety education, and led rides as part of their ‘Active Travel by Mahdlo’ activity.

• My Coldhurst: Our programme will run weekly walking and cycling sessions in Coldhurst, helping residents gain confidence and skills while encouraging them to use active travel for everyday journeys.

• Portraits of Recovery: Situated in Northern Roots 180-acre green space in Oldham, this walking in nature, creative health and wellbeing initiative will deliver an audio (poetry/song/spoken word) walking trail (informed by lived experience) that embeds a culture of walking to support increased substance use recovery health/wellbeing outcomes in Oldham.

• SEE CIC: Supporting children with special education needs to ride to school through their ‘SEE School Can Cycle’ activity.

• Yuvanis Foundation: Helping black, ethnic and minority adults and children to learn to ride a bike and build confidence through their ‘Cycle Together’ activity.

• Oasis Community Hub: A group designed to get women confident in walking alone with their families to discover beauty spots in their local area.

Rochdale

• Become United: Their programme, Steps Together, is an inclusive walking initiative that engages ethnic minority communities – bringing younger children and older adults together for regular, local walks that build healthy habits, reduce isolation, and strengthen intergenerational connections.

• HMR Circle: Reducing loneliness and isolation among older people through a series of walks along Rochdale Canal as part of their ‘Walking the Canals – Continuing the Adventure’ activity.

• Petrus Community: Offering an accessible way to engage in physical activity for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness, while reducing community exclusion through their ‘Petrus Striding Forwards’ activity.

• Rochdale Hornets Foundation: We will combine walking and public transport to visit key landmarks in Greater Manchester such as Rochdale Town Hall, Hollingworth Lake – the group will plan their route, which will combine both methods of transport and can be tailored for different individuals and sub groups depending on their fitness levels.

• Your Trust: Delivering a series of walks for individuals with learning disabilities, additional needs, deafness, or blindness through their ‘Your Sensory Walking and Wheeling’ activity.

Salford

• Recreate-U: A programme of guided walks/wheels accompanied by a series of podcast episodes sharing stories and tips to break down barriers to active travel.

• Kickstart Community CIC: Their Walking and Wheeling Club offers fun, inclusive, interactive and family-friendly activities and themed challenges to help families enjoy being active together and make walking and wheeling a regular part of their lives.

Stockport

• Supportability: Building active travel knowledge and confidence amongst disabled adults in Stockport through a programme of travel training and travel-focused activity sessions.

• Stockport County Community Trust: ‘Walk and Talk’ will empower two groups at risk of health inequality, adults who have a common mental health condition and older people who are living with a long-term health condition, with the skills, confidence, and knowledge to take part in regular walking activity with an aim of achieving better physical and mental wellbeing outcomes.

• The Goodness Collective: Walking Wavers is a women-only walking programme. We’ll addresses critical needs such as safety and confidence, financial and practical barriers, social connection, mental health, and cultural support.

Tameside

• Lotus in Bloom Wellbeing CIC: An evidenced based Nordic Walking programme that supports older people with Metabolic Dysfunction to achieve better Cardiometobolic Fitness, whilst building more sustainable recommended weekly activity (including active travel) levels and social connections.

Trafford

• enJOY arts: A walking project for young parents: free, family-friendly programme in Sale that combines guided walks with creative activities to build confidence, foster social connections, and encourage active travel among young parents and their children.

• Lancashire Cricket Foundation: free weekly walking group starting from Emirates Old Trafford Cricket Ground which looks to connect ethnically diverse communities within Old Trafford and give them the confidence to explore their local area and connect with like-minded people.

• WETA Community Services CIC: Walk & Get Active with WETA is a culturally responsive community walking and active travel programme in Trafford, engaging South Asian adults through gender-specific groups, trusted partnerships, and behaviour change support to improve health, confidence, and long-term active lifestyles.

Wigan

• Wigan Youth Zone: Providing support to 8-19-year-olds with special education needs, and up to 25 years old for those also facing adversity, through bike maintenance sessions and a cycle group as part of their ‘The Gear Medics’ activity.

• The Cycle Project UK CIC: They provide comprehensive training that removes barriers to travelling further by bike, equipping families with the skills and confidence to explore the cycle and canal network and ignite a lasting passion for cycling.