These domestic abuse survivors are learning how to cycle. It helps them find freedom and hope

Natalie remembers feeling free and hopeful the first time she rode a bike. Children ran alongside her shouting in encouragement. She was in her 40s, and had learnt to cycle in the women’s refuge where she was living with her two young kids, having escaped domestic abuse.

“When my whole world felt like it was falling apart, I could get on the bike and put my foot on that pedal,” says Natalie, her name changed to protect her identity.

“I’ll never forget when I first rode a bike. Even now, it makes me quite emotional, because it’s something I never thought I could do. After going through everything I did, to learn to ride a bike is incredible.”

The cycling project, run by charity Sustrans, helps women and children rebuild their lives. But with the funding due to run out at the end of December, its future is uncertain.

Lucy Dance, the project officer who taught Natalie how to cycle, says: “Having the freedom to travel by bike brings a sense of joy and hope to lives that have been shattered by domestic abuse. 

“It would be devastating if we were unable to continue with a project that brings so many benefits to both the physical and mental health of women and children.”

A refuge is a sanctuary for domestic abuse survivors, but residents are experiencing trauma and have left their entire lives behind. It often takes an immense act of bravery to escape their abuser.

Natalie and her children had fled their family home in the middle of the night. “I was in a state of shock, sadness, overwhelm, just not knowing what was going on. It was like a brick to the chest,” she says.

So when she was told about the cycling project, Natalie was hesitant at first. She had never learnt to ride a bike, having injured herself in a fall when she was very young. Over the years, she had tried to cycle but had never been successful. Her ex-partner ridiculed her for it.

“My confidence was at an all-time low, but Lucy has a lovely, calm nature. I couldn’t ride the bike at all, and she would say: ‘You just need to try. You just need to shuffle along.’ I had a tough time at the refuge, but I could get on the bike and forget all my troubles,” Natalie says.

“I would forget about the court hearings, sorting finances, where I was going to live. It was such a meditative process. Sometimes it took so much to get on that bike. I was distraught because of the trauma that went with it. Lucy encouraged me and said: ‘You don’t even have to get on the bike. Just come out.'”

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Natalie explains that she is usually a “chatty, bubbly” person, but that had been “destroyed” by the abuse she had experienced. She had lost her identity, and she feared her children would be taken from her.

“I found that even if I had a hard day, or I’d had a threatening letter from a solicitor, I’d get on that bike. It gave me confidence,” she says.

Lucy was previously a school bike officer – but she was looking for something new and while studying a course in therapeutic practices, one of her placements was at the refuge. She realised residents needed a space to exercise so she launched the cycling project.

It has helped many women and children in the four years since. Some are ready to jump on a bike but others need patience, starting with a conversation before scooting along and finding their balance. It can take months because of the traumas they are facing but slowly they learn to cycle, eventually going on bike rides.

Lucy explains that they are applying for lots of funding opportunities, but it is “difficult”, so they are putting out a call to the community to see if businesses or individuals might be able to fund the project.

“We are not giving up yet and we’d love to hear from any funders who might be able to help us continue this vital work and make a difference where it is really needed,” she says.

Natlalie lived in the refuge for 11 months and felt “exhausted with the trauma and just surviving”, but she also found a community – and the cycling project was vital for that.

“I remember when I first rode a bike, I was running around telling everybody, because I was so delighted,” she says. “It’s building up confidence for women that have had everything taken away.”

Natalie says she is doing “amazingly” now. “I have the tools to go on and not fall apart. There’s such an inner strength within me. I started a course at college. The children are thriving. They’re happy. They’re free.”

She has signed up to do swimming lessons in the new year, another activity she never believed she would be able to do. She is driving again. And she’s still cycling. 

“It’s something for you, where you can get on that bike, forget about all the problems going on, and you can just be free,” Natalie says. “We’ve all been in cages, metaphorically speaking, and had everything taken away from us. It’s not a nice decision to go to a refuge. This project has to continue because women need that freedom.”

If you might be able to help fund this cycling project, contact south@sustrans.org.uk. 

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