NCA are a truly local, community based company.

Founder and Director, Julie Woodruff, was born in Prestwich and has lived in Bury for 49 years. She raised her family in Bury, with her children attending local schools and colleges. Most of NCA’s Instructors, staff and volunteers live in Bury; we are all very proud of our roots and have a commitment to the local area

It is NCA’s remit to employ new recruits and volunteers from the local area. This provides work, training and a sense of belonging.

We are active within the local community, attending Prestwich Carnival and Prestwich Clough Day every year. Presenting bike rides and cycle training for all types of people, from all walks of life. Our activities are inclusive and we have links to Elms Bank High School and Millwood Primary.

NCA has an office base at Philips Park, Whitefield. A cycle storage facility at Hurst Farm in Radcliffe and a volunteer workshop base at Outwood Country Park, Radcliffe

We also sponsor a number of local youth and ladies teams, providing them with new kit every year.

Bury’s diverse ethnic and cultural community 

NCA have concentrated efforts at grass roots level and are keen to forge lasting links with all groups making up our community in Bury including the Jewish and Asian communities.

In both instances, huge barriers have to be overcome by our Instructors and we have chosen our staff carefully to ensure the success of our current project.

This has included:

• Documents translated in appropriate languages
• Providing bikes and equipment, bikes which are suitable for people to ride whilst wearing a looser style of clothing
• Providing male and female only sessions
• Providing male and female Instructors
• Providing Instructors who are from each ethnic group and have a good knowledge of ethnic differences and language
• Sessions planned for different times of the day, evening or weekend

Outwood Countryside Park, Radcliffe

NCA operate a bike recycling scheme which is based at Outwood Park in Radcliffe.

The URBAN CYCLE CENTRE is a CIC, not for profit social enterprise scheme. This project offers volunteering opportunities for people across the Bury area. We are supported by Bury Third Sector Development Agency (B3SDA).

The project provides the opportunity for social engagement, training to learn new skills, progression to finding employment.

Our volunteers are from the Bury area and include:

• Job seekers who wish to learn new skills and plan to return to work
• Older, retired people looking for a new hobby
• Adults with mental health issues, our clients are from ALPHA Hospital

Our volunteers are trained by NCA cycle mechanics and repair donated bikes. Bike sales are held monthly at Outwood, reconditioned bikes are sold at cost to make bikes accessible to those not wishing to make a large financial commitment. The revenue goes towards keeping the scheme alive.

In return, the volunteers gain certificates in cycle maintenance.

In 2015 we gave away 100 bikes to jobseekers as a part of the Bike back to work scheme (BB2W, funded by TFGM).

We also gave Bury Cycle Speedway Club 25 bikes to use for their training sessions and races. The club is located at the Goshen Centre in Bury.

This makes the scheme much more inclusive. Our volunteers also hold bike sales at Manchester Uni and supply students with bikes during fresher’s week for use whilst they study in Manchester. 135 recycled bikes went to students.

The donated children’s bikes are used during our Bikeability training courses, in areas of depravation where children may not have access to one.

Hurst Farm, Radcliffe 

This is a storage facility for our bike recycle scheme. The property is owned by the Forestry Commission; in exchange for using the building we deliver free bike rides for them at various venues throughout the North West. Our bike recycle scheme is sponsored by Evans Cycles, who donated around 5,000 bikes a year to our project.

Philips Park 

NCA is in the process of applying for £350,000 in funding from Sport England to regenerate the old buildings within Philips Park. Our aim is to reinstate the buildings for use as a visitor centre, education and trail centre. It will house classrooms, a café, bike workshop, retail unit and a new office for our use.

Part of the project entails the building of a BMX track and skills area for coaches to deliver training.

Once the renovation work has been completed, our staff will be able to deliver high quality training courses for new Instructors as well as delivering coaching at the site

Our project has the full endorsement of Mike Bent, Head of Bury Parks Department and we are now ready to submit plans to the planning department

Until the funding and building work is finalised, we will be located at the Barn Countryside Centre at the park.

Many of our activities are run from the park, including mountain bike courses for Bury College students completing their level two sports certificates.

Work Experience 

NCA has a good relationship with Bury College and every year we offer work experience placements for their Year 2 students. The students work with our team and are aiming to complete a sports coach qualification.