3 June World Bicycle day

3 June World Bicycle day

Sunday 3 June was World Bicycle day and a great number of our members celebrated this day as a very useful tool for social change. Just like football, cycling connects people all around the world.

EFDN members from all over Europe use bicycles to get people more active or to increase their self-confidence. At the same time, fans are participating in cycling challenges to raise money for the foundations of their football clubs. Here is a quick overview of some of the activities of EFDN members;

Fulham FC

Fulham FC Foundation promotes the use of bicycles through a number of activities. Their flagship event is the FFC Away Day which is a cycling challenge of 130 miles from Fulham to Birmingham for the last game of the season, starting at the iconic Craven Cottage and finishing at St Andrew’s stadium. The event raised more than £20,000 for Fulham FC Foundation’s work in the commun

KAA Gent 

ALthough KAA Gent is primarily a football club, it could also be described as the largest ‘Cycling club’ from Belgium. Since the opening of their Ghelamco Arena, the club promoted cycling as the best way to travel to the stadium and every game, more than 2,500 supporters are coming by bike. Their Cycling Buffalos programme is recognised as a best practice programme by the European Healthy Stadia Network.

Rangers Charity Foundation

The Arran Cycle Challenge organised by the Rangers Charity Foundation was first organised in 2017 and it is an event where participants can choose one of the two cycling routes planned for the campaign. The Arran Cycle Challenge aims to raise money for the Rangers Charity Foundation which supports the vulnerable local communities such as homeless people or people with disabilities.

Werder Bremen 

Since years, Werder Bremen supports the “By bike to work” programme. The campaign was initiated by the German Cycling Association and a health insurance company. Teams of companies can compete against each other while cycling to work for three months instead of taking the car. Also in 2018, the employees of the German football club participated to improve their health.

Leyton Orient Trust

“Cycling is my Goal” is a programme organised by Leyton Orient Trust which includes cycling activities led by qualified ride leaders who lead the participants from the start to the end of the trace. The campaign started in 2016 and it is getting more successful and popular among the local communities. The rides are part of a larger programme Leyton Orient Trust are running called ‘Cycling is my Goal’ that is supporting more people to improve their confidence and cycling skills to ride on the roads.

Everton in the Community

Everton in the Community created an event where 23 Everton supporters cycled for 250 kilometres from Sligo to Goodison. The bike ride was a part of the programme “Home is where the heart is” which managed to raise £250,000 to support young people in the area of Liverpool who are at a risk of becoming homeless. There are many young people in Liverpool who require help and assistance and Everton in the Community is doing a great job to ensure these young people receive the help they need.

Northampton Town 

Northampton Town F.C. has put together a team of staff members and supporters that participated in Prostate Cancer UK’s Football to Amsterdam 2018 event that started on 1 June in England and finished on 3 June in Amsterdam. Team Cobblers, led by Northampton Town Chairman Kelvin Thomas, was part of a weekend-long bike trip to help raise money and awareness to beat prostate cancer, a disease that kills one man every 45 minutes. Hundreds of football fans joined the 2018 ride (145 miles over two days), finishing at Ajax’s Amsterdam Arena, home of EFDN member AFC Ajax.

Northampton Town participated in fundraising bike trip to Amsterdam