Bicycle User Groups (BUGs)

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How to set up a BUG

• Share and discuss your ideas with other cyclists at your workplace first. If you don't know who they are, attach leaflets to their bicycles, or put up a poster near any cycle parking - or just send out an email to everyone, if possible.
• Arrange a meeting for anyone who's interested. Out of courtesy, let your employer know beforehand.
• At the meeting, take everyone’s contact details. Ask them how involved they want to be and if they have any special skills the BUG could use (design, writing newsletters, diplomacy etc).  Discuss your cycling wish list and work out the priorities.
• Start with some simple, clear-cut objectives, e.g. 20p mileage rate for employees cycling on business (this is the permitted Inland Revenue rate for tax relief); covered cycling parking; drying room. 
• Research the above, estimate costs, and gather literature/leaflets to persuade your employer that promoting cycling has something in it for them as well, e.g. healthier staff; need for fewer costly car parking places; less congestion on the roads. CTC's guide to Cycle-friendly Employers helps explain the benefits.
• Work out who in your management structure should be able to help put your proposals into practice. Meet them, perhaps offering a presentation. Be constructive and well-informed and, above all, do your best to come out with managerial endorsement plus timetabled action points and, ideally, a budget. If your BUG membership is already impressive, let them know – it demonstrates the popularity of your project.

Files: 

Workplace Challenge.pdf