A group of 25 women and girls from the BMX Freestyle Park community recently attended the ‘Riding and Rising’ women’s only event, organised and hosted by Tokyo 2020 BMX Freestyle Park Olympic champion Charlotte Worthington.

The event saw Worthington merge her love of the BMX Freestyle community with her passion for helping women and girls grow and develop through sport, as part of the new Changemaker initiative. 

The event saw 25 women and girls of all ages come together at Adrenaline Alley – winner of innovative club of the year at the British Cycling Awards 2024 - to practice skills and learn new tricks, while also working together to complete a number of tasks. These tasks included challenges both on and off the bike ranging from difficult tricks to fun team-building activities aimed at developing skills such as personal growth, building community and leadership. 

The Changemakers initiative, which is a partnership between Allwyn, the operator of The National Lottery, Team GB, ParalympicsGB and UK Sport, has pledged £100,000 of grants to support athletes who want to support projects in their communities that are important to them. 

Having been open with the psychological challenges she has faced at the top of elite sport over recent years, Worthington was motivated to apply for the Changemaker ‘Try It’ grant to put on a women’s-only event.  

The aim of the event was to share tricks and tactics that she has found beneficial when facing challenges over the years, in the hope that they will prove helpful for other women and girls, both in and out of sport. 

On her motivation to put the event together, Charlotte said:

“Since the Tokyo Olympic Games my perspectives shifted and I briefly lost why I enjoyed riding my BMX, which led me down a path of rediscovering what I loved about riding my bike. Facing personal challenges and the unspoken difficulties about the psychological differences of being a woman in sport; I didn’t want them to be so ‘taboo’ any more." 

 “This was a huge motivator to apply for the Changemaker fund and share my experiences with the women's bmx freestyle community and demonstrate to the girls that sport is not all about competition, it can be so much more!" 

“I wanted to give back by improving the culture of our sport and helping the girls develop as people. We tailored the challenges around personal growth, community and leadership so hopefully they’re walking away having learned something about themselves, made a new friend and either performed or witnessed brave acts of leadership from their peers.” 

Holly Pipe, who attended the day and cites Charlotte as her inspiration for riding BMX freestyle said:   

“Before I got there I was really nervous; I don’t really ride with girls a lot so it was really nice to be able to ride with them and now I feel a lot more confident having ridden with female riders because we all support each other."

 “I’ve never seen that number of girls in a skate park before, it’s incredible. It's sometimes hard riding with men all the time who are just so much better than you, it can affect your confidence. So, to ride with women the same level or even better but more on my level is really nice.” 

Andria Vidler, CEO of National Lottery Operator, Allwyn, added:  

“The ChangeMaker grants from Allwyn’s Social Value Fund will enable these inspiring athletes to make a real difference to the causes and communities which matter most to them.  Their passion extends beyond sport and I am proud that through Allwyn’s commitment to having a positive social impact, we can support to them to take the next step.  These grants represent our belief that athletes can be powerful catalysts for change both on and off the field of play.”  

 Sally Munday, CEO of UK Sport said: 

“The National Lottery continues to be the biggest champion of sport at all levels in the UK, and it’s wonderful to see Allwyn, as operator of The National Lottery, enabling our athletes to go even further and use their voice and platforms to power positive change for people, communities and the planet. ”