About Us – Newham Cyclists

Newham Cyclists is a local branch of the London Cycling Campaign, a membership charity that campaigns for cycling across London.

London Cycling Campaign members with an address in the London Borough of Newham are automatically members of Newham Cyclists. Naturally, we campaign for the interests of anyone who cycles in Newham, whether or not they live here.

Newham Cyclists and LCC exist to break down barriers and help more people access cycling, irrespective of age, race, gender, skills, physical impairment, and socio-economic background. Cycling is a cheap, convenient, and time-effective form of transport. Everyone in Newham who wants to cycle should be able to do so in safety and comfort.

What we do

Our role is to further the charitable objectives of the LCC in Newham. Our volunteers do this by:

Representing the “official” view of the LCC to Newham Council, both its elected representatives (councillors and the Mayor) and staff and employees (officers.)
Advocating to other decision-makers to properly accommodate people who cycle (and want to cycle.) This includes our local politicians, TfL, utility firms, planning authorities, private landowners and landlords, developers, mayoral development corporations, park authorities, and local businesses and service providers.
Running regular Fix Your Ride stalls to help people get back on the road on their cycles.
Providing outreach cycling support to local community groups.
Organising regular social rides to showcase the best of what cycling in Newham (and beyond) has to offer.
Collaborating with our sister groups in neighbouring boroughs on topics that transcend the borough boundary.

What we advocate for

In partnership with the LCC, we advocate for:

Safe, direct, and convenient cycling infrastructure, with protected cycle tracks on our busy roads
Redesigns for our dangerous junctions, to national and international best-practice standards to prevent deaths and serious injuries
Low-traffic neighbourhoods, so that local residents (be they cycling, walking, or driving their own cars) don’t have to contend with non-local drivers using their streets as a shortcut
Safer cycling conditions for women and those at risk of gender-based violence
An end to the danger of outdated lorry designs on our streets, and rapid adoption of the Direct Vision standard

Joining Us

You can join us by becoming a member of the London Cycling Campaign. You’ll be helping us make cycling a mainstream, inclusive, and convenient mode of transport for everyone in Newham and beyond. The more members we have, the stronger our voice is.

We are always looking for new volunteers to get actively involved in our campaigning. The best way to get started is to:

email us at newham@lcc.org.uk
join our email discussion group
come along to our next meeting—details are posted on our Events page and on the discussion group.

Our policies and values

We observe the policies, charitable objectives, and values of our parent charity, the London Cycling Campaign.

Our constitution is available to view online.

As part of a charity, we are politically independent. We do not (and, under the law in England, legally cannot) endorse any political party or candidate. Instead we campaign on the issues that are in line with our objectives and values, and report on candidates’ and elected officials’ policies, public statements, and record of delivery while in office.

Similarly, we do not allow people in political office, or candidates for political office, to serve on our Management Committee, because this could create a conflict of interest. They are, of course, still allowed to be members or supporters of LCC and Newham Cyclists.

Our Committee

Our Management Committee is elected at our Annual General Meeting every year (which we typically hold in April.) The Committee for the 2025-26 period is:

Co-ordinator: Jonathan Rothwell
Deputy Co-ordinator (with outreach portfolio): Karen Flanagan
Treasurer: Bill Bremner
Secretary: vacant (role fulfilled by the co-ordinators)
Infrastructure Lead: Chris Kershaw
Emeritus Rides Co-ordinator: Steve Smith, with a view to electing a new Rides Co-ordinator soon

Reports and accounts

Every year we produce a report detailing the activities of Newham Cyclists for the term between each Annual General Meeting; we also publish our annual accounts for each financial year. For our purposes, the financial year begins in April; this is typically when we host our AGM as well.