Tower Hamlets Wheelers had a good night at the Campaigner Awards at the London Cycling Campaign AGM on Thursday 18 October.

The group as a whole won the Best Campaign Initiative award in relation to our campaign on the May 2018 Mayoral and local elections and subsequent engagement with councillors. This included our producing a detailed cycling manifesto setting out what we would like to see achieved in the borough by 2022, which comprised three main asks for the council: significant new cycle routes, low traffic neighbourhoods, and bicycle parking. Copies of the manifesto were distributed to all mayoral candidates and current councillors, and the content received an overwhelmingly positive response. The culmination of our local election campaign was organising the Tower Hamlets Cycling and Walking Mayoral Hustings at Limehouse Town Hall in April. Five of the six mayoral candidates, representing all the major parties, attended the event and publicly signed up to the manifesto. Since the election, our interaction with local councillors has increased markedly, and the positive response to the manifesto has increased our focus on political lobbying.

In addition to this award, Keith Jones individually won a well-deserved highly commended award in the Best Rides and Ride leader category for leading a range of well-attended rides, including a full-day ride to Thamesmead, the East End Suffragette history ride, and his revival of the summer evening Afterworker Rides.