Funding Boost For Cyclone

The Cyclone Festival of Cycling is set to receive funding from the North East Combined Authority, who will be match-funding £5,000 of funding from Northumberland County Council, to make a total of £10,000 funding for the Festival. The funding will help support the sustainability and future development of the 3-day festival of cycling events, which takes place over two weekends in July and August.

Cyclone Festival organiser, Peter Harrison, outlined what the funding will mean for the event:
“It’s great to have this support from the North East Combined Authority. The funding will help to underpin the Festival’s sustainability and help us to grow and plan with greater confidence.”

"The Festival is run on a not-for-profit basis but it involves a lot of detailed planning and pre-event expenditure on a range of facilities, equipment and logistics. This funding makes it easier to manage this year’s events, ensuring that our various rides are run to the highest standards and should enable us to plan for the future with more confidence.”

The funding will also guarantee cycling opportunities for up to a thousand participants during the 2025 Cyclone Festival of Cycling, ranging from young children and their parents and grandparents, through keen club cyclists from all over the country, to elite men and women at the top of the sport.

The Cyclone Festival of Cycling has been running since 2007 and is estimated to have contributed over £16 million to the local economy through participants and spectators, as well as helping to raise over £5 million for charities.

The 2025 edition includes the River Tyne Family Rides - two family-friendly rides on traffic-free routes along the Tyne on Saturday 5 July; The Cyclone Challenge Rides - four longer road “sportive” challenge rides through the Northumberland national park on Sunday 6 July; and the Curlew Cup (Women) and Beaumont Trophy (Men), two elite races featuring some of the country’s leading riders on Sunday August 17th.

The North East Combined Authority (North East CA) was formed on 7 May 2024. It is led by Elected Mayor Kim McGuinness and the Cabinet and covers the seven local authority areas of County Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle, North Tyneside, Northumberland, South Tyneside and Sunderland. For more information visit www.northeast-ca.gov.uk