MeCycle nominated for national award by UK cycling charity

The café, which has been operating on Station Road in Ainsdale for over five years, is one of just a few cafes to have been shortlisted for the honour and Manager Vicky Jones and her team are delighted:

Vicky says: “2020 has been a year full of many challenges and through it all my team at MeCycle have been outstanding. This nomination is a much needed boost for us all. The awards are judged by a panel of experts, but a great deal of weight is put on the nominations received and we hope that our customers, friends and neighbours in Southport and the surrounding areas will go online and vote for us to win. It’s really easy and free to do this and we would be very grateful for the support.”

MeCycle was nominated by its cyclist customers for its friendly atmosphere, locally-sourced healthy food and community focus. Cycling is at the heart of everything MeCycle does and the café seamlessly blends with the cycle shop and workshop running all sorts of courses and ride opportunities to promote inclusivity for cycling.

MeCycle is a social enterprise which provides training and work experience for autistic people as well as supporting a number of local autism projects including a parent’s support group.

The café and bike workshop is run by Autism Initiatives UK and the charity’s Head of Enterprise, Jon Gordon sees the nomination as a wonderful endorsement of the good things they are trying to achieve in Southport: “We have a great team at MeCycle who put in hard work to create a warm, welcoming environment for cyclists and other customers whilst making positive differences for autistic people and their families. It’s brilliant that we have been recognised with this nomination.”

Hundreds of cafes across the UK received online nominations for the awards, with shortlists then made for the final decisions by a panel of experts.

Matt Mallinder, Membership Director at Cycling UK said: “Cyclists depend on great cafes as a place to reenergise with cakes and hot drinks and meet up with others during a day out. These awards say thank you to those cafes whose staff go the extra mile to provide tired cyclists with a friendly face, tasty food and comfy place to take a break.”