For many participants, cycling became more than a way of getting from A to B. It became a symbol of possibility, empowerment, and belonging.
Finding Balance
Finding Balance brings together the stories and creative work of women and young women from refugee and asylum-seeking backgrounds who have taken part in the Loughborough Community Cycling Project.
For many people, riding a bicycle is something learned in childhood. For the women involved in this project, learning to cycle as adults represented much more than mastering a new skill. For some, it meant stepping beyond expectations about what women can do and where they can go. It was about overcoming fears, building confidence, gaining independence, and creating new opportunities for themselves and their families. Through learning to cycle together, the women formed friendships, supported one another, and discovered new ways to connect with local people, places, and opportunities.
The women’s cycling journey is captured through photography, personal stories, drawings, paintings, printmaking, collage, digital and collaborative artworks. The exhibition centres the women’s own voices, celebrating their experiences, creativity and resilience.
At its heart, this exhibition centres the women’s own voices. It celebrates their creativity, resilience, and determination while inviting visitors to reflect on the power of movement, community, and inclusion.
Finding balance. Finding confidence. Finding connection. Finding a way forward.
