Cycle Sisters Founder awarded an MBE

Cycle Sisters founder Sarah Javaid has been awarded an MBE in the King’s birthday honours list for services to cycling and the community.

Sarah started Cycle Sisters back in 2016 in her home borough of Waltham Forest in response to a lack of culturally sensitive opportunities to access cycling. Cycle Sisters has since grown to a London-wide network of over 1500 members with 10 borough groups supporting hundreds of women across the capital each year change their lives through cycling. In each borough Cycle Sisters has partnerships with local councils who support the groups by making bikes available for our members to borrow for led rides and lessons.

Since 2016 our groups have gone from strength to strength guided by Sarah’s dedication and belief in the importance of inclusive spaces to discover cycling. Developing a model of volunteer run community cycle groups has enabled Cycle Sisters to have an impact in each borough. Over the past 6 years Cycle Sisters has trained over 90 Ride Leaders empowering local women from within local Muslim communities to take on leadership roles.

Sarah has also ensured that Cycle Sisters plays a key part in addressing the underepresentation of Muslim women in mainstream cycling. The partnerships she has established with organisations such as TfL, Cycling UK and British Cycling have helped raise the profile of Muslim women cyclists. More recently she has worked closely with London Marathon Foundation to ensure Cycle Sisters have a presence in key cycling events like Ride London.

Zainab Arian, Cycle Sisters Trustee says:

"We are delighted that Sarah’s incredible dedication and commitment to diversity in cycling been formally recognised. She has inspired so many of us personally and we are very grateful for her work to provide safe spaces for Muslim women to discover cycling."