Essex County Council to partner with Ford RideLondon until 2026

Essex to host world’s greatest festival of cycling for next three years bringing with it funding to inspire physical activity across the county.

Essex County Council has today (Tuesday 4 July) announced a three-year agreement to host Ford RideLondon. The agreement will see the world’s greatest festival of cycling return to Essex for the next three years (2024 to 2026 inclusive). This includes hosting the Ford RideLondon-Essex mass participation events as well as two stages of the Ford RideLondon Classique, part of the professional UCI Women’s WorldTour, the highest level of female racing in the world.

As a direct benefit of the partnership, Essex has to date been awarded £1.75 million in funding from the London Marathon Foundation (the parent charity of event organisers London Marathon Events) to inspire physical activity and promote active travel. The funding, managed by Active Essex, has already supported more than 15,000 residents to take part in funded activities since May 2022. With additional grants now available to county-wide organisations via Active Essex, this number is set to increase substantially.

The continuation of the partnership means that Essex will remain one of the London Marathon Foundation’s core funding areas for the next three years.

Cllr Lee Scott, Essex County Council Cabinet Member for Highways Maintenance and Sustainable Transport, said: “Following two successful years of Ford RideLondon in Essex, I am delighted that our county will continue to partner until 2026. The event has been a learning experience and each year we’ve improved at being hosts. We have expanded resident engagement sessions and opened new channels of communication for any foreseeable problems. 

“The Ford RideLondon Classique brings world-class sport to the county while the Ford RideLondon-Essex mass participation rides raise millions of pounds for good causes each year. Both the professional races and the inspirational challenge rides have received great support from all the Essex communities involved.

“The events bring thousands of people to the county every year and showcase our beautiful county on both the national and international stage. We very much look forward to this event improving even further in the coming years.”

Hosting Ford RideLondon is part of the County Council’s Everyone’s Essex: a plan for levelling up the county which aims to help people keep healthy and active and promotes active travel as part of the move towards net zero.

Hugh Brasher, Event Director at London Marathon Events, organisers of Ford RideLondon, said: “The second edition of Ford RideLondon-Essex in May was a huge success, with more than 22,500 riders enjoying glorious sunshine, raising millions for charity with fantastic support from crowds along the route. We know that the event inspires tens of thousands of people to get onto their bikes to cycle more often and to take fewer trips by car. More than 60 per cent of participants plan to return to Essex and explore the county, which was showcased with more than seven hours of TV coverage and broadcast in 170 countries worldwide.”

Last week it was announced that funding applications for Find Your Active small grants have reopened. Organisations, groups and instructors can apply for funds of up to £3,000. More details can be found on the Active Essex website.