Active Travel England funds photo bank of disabled cyclists

Active Travel England, the government agency responsible for promoting and facilitating active transport, has funded a set of images produced by disabled people's cycling organisation Wheels for Wellbeing.

The new set of images, released during Disability History Month, shows disabled people, "using cycling for transport, leisure, fun and exercise in all weathers, at all times of day and in all sorts of places".

These images are free to use for media and individuals alike, and Wheels for Wellbeing hopes they will go some way to resolving the absence of Disabled cyclists in cycling imagery.

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Charlie Fernandes/Transport for London/Wheels for Wellbeing

Wheels for Wellbeing hopes the images will help to resolve the absence of Disabled cyclists in imagery

In a press release, Wheels for Wellbeing highlighted the fact Disabled people are often "invisible" in historical record, adding that, "nowhere is this more true than in cycling."

The result, says Wheels for Wellbeing, is a cycle of disability exclusion and invisibility, "with many a decision maker or traffic engineer telling Wheels for Wellbeing staff that they’d 'never seen a Disabled cyclist'."

The campaigners say imagery is an essential part of resolving that. They hope their new images will allow for "good quality, genuine representation of Disabled cyclists".

Charlie Fernandes/Transport for London/Wheels for Wellbeing

Cyclists using trikes and hand cycles are often forgotten when designing cycling infrastructure

In a statement, Chris Boardman, Active Travel Commissioner said: "Active Travel England is proud to have supported this work. With a wide choice of great images in the Wheels for Wellbeing photobank, there are now no more excuses for failure to represent the diversity of cyclists and cycles. I would urge anyone working in Active Travel to sign up and start using this free and easy-to-use resource."

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