To celebrate National Bike Week (9 – 15 June) and UN Bicycle Day (Tuesday, 3 June), Kingston Cycling Campaign (KCC) is inviting locals to boost their cycling confidence with a free, family-friendly group bike ride on Sunday, 15 June.

The bike ride will start at 10.45am at the Fishponds Park in Surbiton.

As the event Is part of the wider London Cycling Festival, organised by London Cycling Campaign, there will also be 20 bikes available to hire for locals who want to join in but do not own a bike.

Kids are welcome on the ride, but parents are also invited to take part without the kids as cycling can have a positive impact on people's mental, physical and financial health.

Parents are invited to join the bike ride with or without their kids (Credit: G and S Buckingham)

Ashley, a parent who has joined a previous ride said: "That was absolutely amazing - me and my children really enjoyed it.

"I'm relatively confident but being in a group makes such a difference - these rides are really fantastic at getting them out with their mates. It builds their confidence so much - my son was talking about the last one for weeks afterwards.

"We usually only cycle to school or the shops, so these rides help us see a bit more of the borough, introducing us to new routes and giving us the confidence to venture a bit further."

You can find out more about the cycle and sign up for free here.

Many local councillors have also joined previous rides, including Cllr Diane White, Cllr Jackie Davies, Cllr Susan Skipwith, Cllr John Sweeney, Cllr Ian Manders, Cllr Andrew Wooldridge, and Cllr Farshid Sadr-Hashemi, as well as MPs Sarah Olney and Ed Davey.

Speaking about a previous ride after joining it, Cllr Skipwith said: "What a brilliant event this was!

"Gave me the nudge I needed to get back on the bike after many years. The organisation was smooth and very supportive of unconfident cyclists like me! I'd encourage anyone looking for a confidence boost to sign up for the next one."

You can find out more information about KCC's other family-friendly rides here.

Jon Fray, Coordinator of Kingston Cycling Campaign said: "We know supported group rides can give people of all ages the confidence they need to get back on their bikes and rediscover how much fun cycling can be.

"By organising our easy-paced rides all year round, we want to show that cycling needn't be just a fair-weather activity and help encourage more residents - children as well as adults - to consider using bikes for local journeys."