One to One Children's Fund

Cycling Clubs for

One to One Israel believes that the after school bike clubs can help to prevent children from becoming involved in deviant activities, and can offer them the opportunity to become involved in a new interest and hobby.


The Project Cycling gives children at risk new skills Children generally finish school by 2pm in Israel, which leaves a long afternoon to be filled with extra-curricular activities - providing parents are able to pay for them. Disadvantaged children from low socio-economic backgrounds are often left to their own devices without parental supervision, however, and some may turn towards negative behaviour. Six years ago, One to One launched its first cycling club in Netanya. Today there are nine clubs which provide an after school activity for more than 200 children from some of the most disadvantaged communities in Israel. All training takes place off-road and cross-country, not in the confines of a stadium and away from the children's normal environment. This is a very important part of the design of the programme, which aims to give these children the chance to experience another world, and to be given the opportunity to excel in a sport. Our partners from local schools and welfare departments identify the children who will most benefit from the programme. One to One cycling clubs provide the children with a set of skills to help them not only to get the best from their mountain bikes, but also to give advice on general fitness and team building through regular meetings and to promote a sense of self-discipline, self-reliance, and self-esteem. One to One's Beit Shemesh cyclists learn English while they ride Yellow-jerseyed riders from One to One's Beit Shemesh cycling club on the winners' podium after the Beeri bike ride. Children in the One to One's Beit Shemesh cycling club participated in the recent Beeri bike ride through southern Israel. The club provided three of the rides winners, two of whom will be joining a cycling delegation to Washington DC, a twin city of Beit Shemesh, in early May. Three other riders from the club have also been selected to go on the trip, which is being organised under the auspices of the Jewish Agency 2000 programme. As part of the selection process, potential participants are interviewed and need to demonstrate a good knowledge of English. Teachers at the children's schools have noticed that pupils who belong to the cycling club are concentrating extra hard in their English classes, and there is even an increased demand for extra lessons. Clearly, bike riding has encouraged both physical and mental exertion at the Beit Shemesh One to One cycling club! Members of Washington DC's Jewish community will cover most of the delegations expenses, and individual families will host the cyclists during their stay. Click here to make a donation.