With National Bike Week just around the corner (16-22 June 2008), the Sports Council for Wales is encouraging the nation to take two wheels.

With fuel prices causing outrage at the petrol pumps, there’s no better time to get on your bike. It’s green, it’s healthy – and you don’t need to be Lance Armstrong to get a good workout.

And, if you have an idea that could get more people, more active more often – you may even be in line for a cash grant from the Sports Council for Wales.

Projects up and down the country have been reaping the rewards of the Community Chest scheme since 1999.

Organisations keen to develop sport & physical activity in Wales can now receive up to £1000 for a qualifying project over a 12 month period.

The scope of the scheme has also been widened. Grants have been traditionally awarded to sports clubs and sporting bodies but now most organisations seeking to develop physical activity and sporting projects will be eligible for an award.

The Community Chest has recently been infiltrating additional areas of work such as the voluntary sector (e.g. Voluntary Youth Clubs, Women’s Institute) and the workplace, as well as continuing to support projects in the health and education arenas.

Chair of the Sports Council for Wales, Philip Carling said:

"Community Chest has been and continues to be a huge success and is very popular throughout Wales. The increase in funding and the greater scope of the scheme is increasing its effectiveness.

"Panels based in each of the 22 local authorities in Wales hold the purse strings and have delegated authority to award grants to worthwhile projects. We want to hear of bright ideas and projects that will get more people active more often."

The new approach will deliver opportunities for everybody to engage in physical activity, whether that be during work or leisure time. We have worked with a number of projects to install bike racks and to purchase bikes. Cycling projects in both rural and urban areas are all now eligible for funding."