Our Team
Cycling Minds was envisaged by Toby Price, a keen cyclist and big believer in the power of cycling to improve not just physical but also mental health. In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic when the nation’s well-being was suffering more than ever, Toby felt it was time to do something to support people across West Northumberland by introducing them to cycling and all its benefits.
Cycling Minds is a volunteer-run organisation and has a fantastic team of enthusiastic volunteers from all walks of life. Some are trained ride leaders and mechanics, others have experience working with people with additional needs, all are cyclists and have witnessed how taking people on group rides can have a notable impact on their happiness and self-confidence. As Cycling Minds’ beneficiaries also have the possibility of training as ride leaders themselves when the time is right, some of them will no doubt become volunteers and close what we see is a virtuous cycling circle.
Our Directors
Toby Price
General ManagerToby is a Student Engagement Facilitator at Newcastle University and has been a youth football coach with a local girls’ team in Hexham for four years. He is a keen cyclist and volunteers for Cycling Minds as a British Cycling Level 2 ride leader and a Velotech Gold accredited bike mechanic.
Dominic Cook
Non-Executive DirectorDominic is currently a director with one of the world’s leading engineering professional services consultancies, WSP. He has been involved with local community activities through the Hexham Round Table – treasurer for Hexham Round Table for two years, Chair for one year – helping to organise numerous community events and raise funds for local good causes. He competes in triathlons and has also been treasurer for the One Life triathlon club for three years.
Michael Williams
Non-executive DirectorMichael is Managing Director of Hexham based PDL Solutions (Europe) ltd. Outside of work, Michael volunteers as a Scout Section Assistant supporting a very active Scout group in Barrasford, and has recently gained further responsibility within the Explorers section. Michael has a passion for cycling, whether that be on the local trails on his mountain bike or on the many and varied Northumbrian country lanes with a team of like-minded road cyclists.
Our Advisory Board
We couldn’t have got Cycling Minds up and riding without the invaluable support of our Advisory Board of volunteer experts in different fields including: Ted Liddle, cycling development and tourism specialist; Thomas Hardy, Twelfth City Cyclery bike shop owner; Justin Rowntree from SweetSpot, advisor and fundraiser for a successful social enterprise working with young people with mental health challenges (Blend Kitchen); Stef Anderson, former Fundraising and Communications Lead at Ouseburn Farm Charity in Newcastle; Linz Philips, former EVP at Sage and board member of Dynamo North East and Digital Leaders; and Tania Thomas, former Team Leader of the NHS Living Well Service.
They have provided guidance during start-up and will continue to do so as we develop.
Partners
Cycling Minds wouldn’t have been possible without the financial backing of our initial funders: Hexham Town Council, Northumberland County Council , Northumberland National Park, Sport England (through Cycling UK) and the Alpkit Foundation, and advice and help from numerous people including: Jordan Metters, formerly of Cycling UK; Deni Riach from Nature’s Living Room; Northumberland County Councillor, Suzanne Fairless-Aitken; Chip Ponsford from Heartwood; Recyke Y’ Bike, WATBike, and the team at Adapt NE among many others.
The project relies on local health and social care providers and social prescribers, charities and community groups to signpost and refer the young people they help to Cycling Minds. These include: the Living Well Service funded by the West Northumberland Primary Care Network, Northumberland County Council’s Northumberland Communities Together and Public Health Wellbeing Services, Adult Social Care, Children’s Services and Public Health teams, Hexham Youth Initiative, Gateway into the Community, StopGap Supported Housing, Number 28 Community Project and the Hextol Foundation.
Our Ambassadors
Dr Ollie Hart
Clinical Director of Heeley Plus Primary Care Network and Director of Peak Health CoachingKnown as Doc on a Bike after he pledged to swap a car for an e-bike for his work as a GP partner in Sheffield, Dr Ollie Hart has joined Cycling Minds as an ambassador, attracted by our sports health and training programme which will make a valuable contribution to fulfilling the NHS’s targets for person-centred care and social prescribing under its Comprehensive Model for Personalised Care.
A Clinical Director of Heeley Plus Primary Care Network, Ollie is a personalised care lead with the Royal College of GPs, and one of two global Health and Wellbeing ambassadors for parkrun. He is also a director of Peak Health Coaching and has a strong interest in integrating conventional medical provision with addressing social determinants of health, sitting on the steering group of the national think tank, Rethinking Medicine. He has been at the forefront of championing person-centred care since 2014, engaging 70 GP practices to develop person-centred care skills.
John Holmes
Governor of Northumberland CollegeJohn, from Corbridge, is a retired Chartered Surveyor with a career in Development, Housing, Regeneration, Economic Development, Heritage Management and Tourism in both the public, private and charitable sectors. He now chairs the Bernicia Housing Group, is a Governor of Northumberland College, is a Trustee of Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums Development Trust and is a volunteer driver for a local charity.
He has always been passionate about cycling and has taken part in many coast-to-coast rides and several fundraising rides including for a Rumanian children’s charity. His latest project is the Cuthbert Cycling Challenge which retraces the route that the monks took when they left Lindisfarne and eventually led to the building of the Cuthbert’s shrine in Durham Cathedral. John will do the entire ride of over 540 miles and work closely with Cycling Minds on seeking partnership support for legacy projects through his wide network of local business contacts..
Our Patron
Dr Suzanne Fairless-Aitken
Northumberland County Councillor and Hexham Town CouncillorWe are proud to have as our patron Northumberland County Councillor and Hexham Town Councillor, Dr Suzanne Fairless-Aitken. Suzanne has experienced first-hand how cycling helps manage mental health and decided to support the project as patron because, in her words: “Cycling Minds very much ticks most of our list of priorities for Hexham – a sustainable social enterprise that will bring huge benefits to the health of residents and generate valuable tourism opportunities attracting visitors to the town. A happy and healthy Hexham – a win-win! It’s an opportunity for our youngsters to volunteer, be trained and learn essential life-skills which is until now unprecedented in the area – and this doesn’t even touch on the obvious, positive mental-health benefits of cycling, especially for those with post-lockdown issues that have been sadly all too noticeable among young people”.