Cyclist.ie is seeking volunteers to get involved in our brand new Action Groups, which have been developed as a way to help implement our newly adopted Cyclist.ie Strategy.
The groups are as follows:
1 – Finance, Funding, Alliances & Membership
2 – Tools and member support
3 – Communications
4 – Organisation Governance & Strategy Oversight
5 – Engagement with Politicians
6 – Engagement with Officials
7 – Consultations
8 – Research, Road Safety & Sustainable Mobility
9 – The Rural Collective
For each of the groups, we provide below a brief description of the work it covers and an outline of the types of skills and expertise we are seeking so that we can advance that group’s work.
If you are a member of Cyclist.ie, we would very much welcome your input into any of these groups. Please complete this short form if you think you might be in a position to help out in any way with our Action Groups.
1 – Finance, Funding, Alliances & Membership
Action Group Leader: Gerry Dornan (Kildare Cycling Campaign)
Group Description
- Securing funding for the National Cycling Coordinator (NCC) post – developing / submitting funding applications
- Securing funding for cycling (advocacy) projects – ditto
- Overview of income and expenditure of Cyclist.ie – assist Treasurer in presenting quarterly reports to Executive and bi-annual reports to Council meetings.
- Membership – overview of issues related to membership
- Insurance issues – review existing situation and bring forward and disseminate proposals to reinforce good practice
Skills and Expertise Wanted
Common sense and practical thinking required – no particular specialised skills although knowledge of spreadsheets would be an advantage. Group members should be capable of independent analysis of existing practices and how they can be improved. In many respects the funding of the NCC post is the most critical as it is the most challenging. It will be ongoing whereas project funding will be more short term.
2 – Tools and Member Support
Action Group Leader: Dave Anderson (Navan Cycling Initiative)
Group description
Our purpose is to enable member groups and the national executive team to be more effective by seeking out frequently-asked questions, enabling knowledge-sharing and providing solutions to common issues with tools, templates and tech.
Skills and expertise wanted
- Experience in customer-centric roles such as customer support, user experience design or service design
- Experience with “team enabler” solutions including: CRM, knowledge-management, task & project management, event and campaign management, communications, etc.
- Familiarity working with diverse individuals and dispersed/remote teams
3 – Communications
Action Group Leader: Siobhán McNamara (Dublin Cycling Campaign)
Group description
The focus of this group’s activity is on formulating and implementing a Communications plan.
Skills and expertise wanted
We would welcome input from people with interest, skills, or expertise in: marketing; graphic design; or conventional, online, or social media. Your input will help us work towards our priority objectives of strengthening our external communications, shaping and influencing media debates, and creating partnerships and alignments with events, projects, groups and individuals with overlapping values.
4 – Organisation Governance & Strategy Oversight
Action Group Leader: Damien Ó Tuama (National Cycling Coordinator)
Group description
This group takes a helicopter view of how we are progressing with advancing our work. Our strategy has six aims (plus the additional cross-cutting one of the ‘Rural Vision’) and we have our eight Action Groups as the basic structures by which we divide out our work. We check in on progress at our (monthly) Executive Committee meetings, but in between the group will keep an eye on progress. Crucially, this group is all about enabling volunteers to find an area of work they like and are willing to help with. The group will also ensure that our Operating Procedures doc remains up-to-date and fit for purpose.
Skills and expertise wanted
- To enjoy taking a strategic and systematic approach on how an organisation advances its work.
- To be adept at chatting to our members and helping them figure out what they’d like to do.
- Note that we propose to use ‘Trello’ to chart progress with the implementation of our strategy, so experience with that tool would be of use.
5 – Engagement with Politicians
Action Group Leaders: Neasa Bheilbigh (Galway Cycling Campaign) and Dave Tobin (Limerick Cycling Campaign)
Group Description
This group will liaise with both national and local politicians around legislation, and on policy / strategy formation and delivery to further our own strategy priorities. It will identify and engage with various stakeholders and officers within political parties including policy / manifesto development party members. It will engage constructively across all parties to influence the discourse around active travel.
Skills and expertise wanted
- A willingness to engage patiently with all mainstream political parties to further Cyclist.ie’s strategic plan.
- Previous campaign experience (political, civil or otherwise) may be of benefit but is not a prerequisite.
- A willingness to support and inform our wider membership on the current policy positions of political parties.
- A willingness to work as a team to support both Cyclist.ie at a national level while also supporting member groups at local or regional level.
6 – Engagement with Officials
Action Group Leader: Neasa Bheilbigh (Galway Cycling Campaign) and Dave Tobin (Limerick Cycling Campaign)
Group Description
To continue to hold regular meetings with the major agencies, government departments, and Local Authorities re: the growth and safety of cycling, quality of cycle routes / networks etc. To keep our members informed of developments from these contacts.
- Department of Transport. Three separate units: Sustainable Transport & Policy; Roads, Active Travel & Greenways; Legislation & Road Safety
- National Transport Authority (NTA). Re: standards, oversight, funding, promotion (plus BusConnects).
- Road Safety Authority (RSA). Re: Road Safety Strategy, quicker updating of collision data, quicker reporting on an annual basis on injuries and deaths, campaigns etc.
- An Garda Síochána. Re: enforcement, education, training, reporting etc.
- Other – Transport Infrastructure Ireland, City & County Managers’ Association, Local Authorities, Healthy Ireland, Irish Rail, Waterways Ireland, Office of Public Works etc.
Skills and expertise wanted
- Basic understanding of general workings of government, agencies, and local authorities
- Ability to work as part of a team and ‘learn on the hoof’
- Interest / expertise in particular topic areas (e.g. legislation, design issues)
- Commitment to raising Cyclist.ie’s profile with bodies and to developing the cycling / climate agenda
- Availability to attend online meetings of Action group
- Ability to manage meetings and set agendas
7 – Consultations
Action Group Leader: Colm Ryder (Dublin Cycling Campaign)
Group description (and this will evolve with the new team in place)
- Reviewing and collating transport / cycling related government & Local Authority consultations
- Prioritising consultations and allocating leaders for them
- Ensuring all draft submissions are posted for review / comment in Google Drive
- Preparing website and social media posts to highlight submissions made
- Developing a template for submissions for members (see also Action Group B above)
Skills and expertise wanted
- An interest in supporting or making submissions on public consultations, but also reviewing the effectiveness of these submissions.
- Availability to meet online and/or work remotely
- Ability to process planning documentation and maps/drawings
- General organisational skills
8 – Research, Road Safety & Sustainable Mobility
Action Group Leader: Caitríona Corr (Kilkenny Cycling and Walking Campaign)
Group description
The aim of this group is to bring research into action. Some of the actions that this group may initially focus on include:
- Collating research findings on cycling, road safety and sustainable mobility
- Exploring ways of disseminating the latest research findings
- Exploring opportunities for linking researchers (including students) with “real life” problems / topics
- Establishing a network of researchers, working in the area of cycling and sustainable mobility
Skills and expertise wanted
We are looking for cycling enthusiasts that may have links with third level institutes or a background in research and would like to help with any of the above tasks.
9 – The Rural Collective
Group Leader: Jo Sachs-Eldridge (Leitrim Cycling Festival)
Group Description
The mission of this group is:
- To enable, promote and celebrate everyday cycling in smaller cities, towns, and their surroundings.
- To help create cleaner, greener, healthier places for us to live.
- To give our smaller rural cycling groups a voice by working together for a national transition towards a cycle-friendly Ireland.
- To collaborate with all stakeholders, organise actions, make some noise and have fun along the way.
The eight priorities of the Rural Collective focus on accelerating a transition to a cycle-friendly society in a manner that ensures social equity and fairness, and supports a healthier and cleaner environment. These priorities are set out in our document A Vision for Cycling in Rural Ireland.
Skills and expertise wanted
Most importantly, we are looking for people with a real desire to change the culture of rural Ireland so that cycling becomes a safe and normal way for people of all ages and abilities to get about. We welcome people with a broad range of skills to get involved – and these can include skills of a technical nature (e.g. around mapping and developing apps), event organising skills or good letter writing skills! In short, if you like our Vision for Cycling in Rural Ireland, we will find a job for you however small!
In summary, if you are a member of Cyclist.ie, we would very much welcome your input into any of the groups listed above. Please complete this short form if you think you might be in a position to help out in any way with our Action Groups.