Herne Hill Velodrome, a cycling centre in London, will receive $200,000 (£163,000) from the Rapha Foundation for increasing its availability of off-road facilities and hiring an off-road development officer. 

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"Herne Hill Velodrome is delighted to receive this grant from The Rapha Foundation. It complements the Foundation's first award made to us in 2019, and it will allow us to extend our cycling development activity in exciting ways including into off-road riding for the first time. We are also pleased that the Foundation is choosing Herne Hill Velodrome to build on its commitments to grassroots cycling in the UK,” said Tim McInnes, Chair of Herne Hill Velodrome Trust.

Part of the Rapha Foundation funding will go towards an off-road development officer, who will build awareness of the centre’s trails in the community and develop cycling training sessions and some competitive events. Some of the funding will also go towards improving the centre’s trails for a variety of riders and extending the Youth Development Officer role for another year. 

2022 Herne Hill Velodrome, by Suvi Loponen

“As a brand, Rapha has always been about cycling as a way of life, about the culture and the benefits the activity can bring to entire communities. I feel honoured that we are in a position to support the institutions that nurture a passion for cycling from an early age. Organisations such as Herne Hill Velodrome do not exist to earn a profit - their motives are far nobler than that. They deserve all the support they can get,” Francois Convercey, Co-Managing Director of Rapha said.

Herne Hill Velodrome, founded in 1891, is a multi-use cycling centre with a 450m outdoor banked track and MTB and cyclo-cross facilities. It’s been the training ground for many decorated cyclists, including Sir Bradley Wiggins, Fred Wright and Flora Perkins. 

The centre does a lot of work around inclusivity, and offers affordable, accessible cycling sessions, including track, road, mountain biking and cyclocross, with women, young, veteran and disabled riders from across South East England using its facilities. 

Rapha Foundation was founded in 2019 with the mission of building a better future for cycling and cyclists, and it invests $1.5m annually in grassroots cycling activities around the world. This has been made possible by Steuart Walton and Tom Walton, Rapha shareholders, along with Simon Mottram, the founder of Rapha.

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