Ride Sheffield Needs Your Help!

The followers of Ride Sheffield are generally a supportive bunch, happy with what we do, thankful for the trails, maintenance and other things we deliver. However, we do still get a few comments along the lines of “Why don’t Ride sheffield do…..” or “You should do more of X”. 

This post will try to explain the real Ride Sheffield position and what folks could do to help.

Ride Sheffield has been around for over 10 years now and for a volunteer group to exist that long is a huge achievement. When we were shiny and new we had a sizeable team of enthusiasts achieving success in various areas but, over time, people’s lives and priorities change and the team has shrunk. For the last few years most of what Ride Sheffield has delivered has been done by four people.  That’s four people who have jobs, families, want to ride their bikes and are giving their time voluntarily. 

Dig days are well supported – last September’s Canning’s maintenance day saw some forty five willing volunteers grafting but even they currently are planned and led by one of the same four people. We have ambassadors who have helped at events and a couple of folks have recently stepped up to help set up the trail crews. They will help with maintenance work planning and implementation once these crews are up and running.

The trail crews will pick up maintenance work around all the areas we work and also in time take over setting up and leading digs, liaising with land managers, setting up projects and that will lighten some of the load. But organisation, training and experience building all takes time.

There’s still a lot we’d like to do and some things we could do better, we admit that. There are a number of projects and ideas are waiting in line but what we require to take Ride Sheffield to the next level is more help. We’ve reached capacity and as we continue to grow and be recognised for the work we do there are more opportunities and things we’d like to do.

We need people from around the city who are willing to step up and do something to aid the progress of mountain biking around Sheffield. It doesn’t necessarily require huge amounts of time, you don’t need to be a riding god or to know how to wield a shovel to make the perfect berm. We just need a broader cohort of dedicated, willing people to spread the load.

For example it would be a huge help having a team who could run our social media pages for us, keeping posts up to date. That alone would free up some core team time and also help spread the word about what we do, grow our supporter base and generate more funds through Rad-Tax  It’s a virtuous circle. 

Help could also come in the form of specific skills, solicitors, surveyors, environmental experience, grant applications, working at a plant hire company or quarry – many different forms of expertise would assist us. It could also be a willingness to get involved in all sorts of stuff, join the committee and be part of the team.

If you’re interested in getting involved with Ride Sheffield, helping us do more and take things to the next level, drop an email to info@ridesheffield.org.uk Let us know what you’d be interested in doing, whether general help or a specific skill.