RIDER SPOTLIGHT: FUND HER TRI UK
We sat down with Bianca Fernandez-Clark, co-founder and Chair of Fund Her Tri UK, to learn more about the incredible community she’s building to empower more women and non-binary people to experience swimming, cycling, running, and triathlons.
Let’s dive into our conversation!
Can you share a bit about how you came about founding Fund Her Tri UK?
I heard about Fund Her Tri (our sister charity in the US) while racing in the Ironman World Championships at Kona in 2022. Lynn Mattix founded the charity, raising funds to support women doing their first-ever triathlon, alongside a mentoring programme. I knew I had to bring the same to the UK! As a woman, and particularly as a woman of colour, I’ve always been a huge advocate for diversity and speaking out about the many barriers we face. Once we decided to create Fund Her Tri UK, the rest was history!
We have several programmes aimed at removing these barriers, and we’ve built a vibrant, diverse, and supportive community of over 200 women of all ages. We’ve also partnered with Cycle Sisters to inspire and support Muslim women in the sport.
Some of your members took part in Etape Caledonia last year. How did it feel to see so many of them at the event?
It was incredible, and our presence was really felt! As we have a wide range of abilities, they took part in different distances, and everyone felt so accomplished at the end. Every single one of our riders loved the event from start to finish – the scenery was breathtaking!
What do you think they gained from participating?
For many of our riders from FHT UK and Cycle Sisters, Etape Caledonia was a significant challenge in terms of distance, elevation, or both. Completing the event was a real confidence boost, and they’ve since gone on to sign up for so many other challenges, now knowing they’re capable of so much more than they thought possible.
What did you love most about Etape Caledonia and its community?
The scenery, for sure. I’ve done many sportives in the UK, but I had never experienced one with such beautiful landscapes. The community really embraced the event, and the incredible support was fantastic to see.
Cycling events can often feel intimidating for beginners. Do you have any advice for experienced riders to help make newcomers feel safe and welcome?
I feel all experienced riders should take some time to ‘give back’ to beginner riders. This could be by leading a beginners’ ride, mentoring a new cyclist, or offering words of advice. This is particularly important for women, as there are so few of us, and it’s hard to grow participation if we don’t take the time to support another woman at the start of her journey. It’s not enough to say we want more women; we have to actively do our bit as well.
One of Fund Her Tri UK’s main missions is to create a supportive community. Could you tell us about an experience where this community aspect really made an impact on one of your members?
We have so many stories of members who would never have signed up for an event if it hadn’t been for Fund Her Tri UK’s support – whether it was removing the financial barrier through one of our donated entries, or our mentoring and coaching programmes or even just the camaraderie. Everyone at Fund Her Tri UK is each other’s hype woman, and that belief that they can do whatever challenge they sign up to, makes all the difference. Some of our women didn’t know how to swim, cycle, or run when they joined us and now they’re triathletes!
What can event organisers, like us, do to support initiatives like Fund Her Tri UK in breaking down barriers and raising awareness of women's participation in sports?
We are so grateful to Motiv for their unwavering support of Fund Her Tri UK. Motiv’s commitment to increasing gender diversity is second to none. We’ve suggested many changes that could be implemented to support women, and Motiv has taken these on board, introducing a number of female-friendly policies across their event portfolio. Imagery and representation are also so important – having more of us at the start line will always inspire more of us to take part in the future. Motiv helps us break down financial barriers even further.
What’s been your proudest moment with Fund Her Tri UK so far?
This year has been filled with successes for Fund Her Tri UK; our community has collectively raced in over 350 events across swimming, cycling, running, and triathlon! Reaching this milestone and seeing the impact we’ve had on so many women has been our proudest achievement.
Looking forward, how do you see Fund Her Tri UK evolving in the next few years?
We want all women across the UK who are starting their journeys in swim, bike, run, and triathlons to join us! We are a small team and a 100% volunteer-run organisation, but it’s a labour of love. We all love the sport and just want more women to love it as well.
Could you share a personal highlight from any of the endurance events you've participated in, whether it's cycling, triathlon, or another sport?
I recently attempted Ride Across Britain (970 miles from Land’s End to John O’Groats) in 9 days; Etape Caledonia was part of my training for this! It was, hands down, the hardest thing I’ve ever done. My journey was plagued with injuries, and I couldn’t complete all the stages, but I learned so much about myself and really dug deep into my reserves. I’ll be back in 2026 for a rematch! Here’s a link to the blog about that event in case it inspires others to step well and truly outside of their comfort zones.
Finally, for the women who might be reading this blog and thinking about joining a cycling club or signing up for an event, what would you say to encourage them to take that first step?
Cycling clubs can be intimidating, and it can take a while to find your ‘one’ – it took me a while too! Do some research first and speak to other club members to make sure it’s your ‘tribe’. That tribe might just be Fund Her Tri UK! As for events, that’s easy – just do it! We often get scared about signing up for things we’re absolutely capable of. Life happens outside of our comfort zones, so just go for it!
If you’d like to learn more about Fund Her Tri UK and the incredible work they’re doing, please head to their website and get involved!
If Bianca’s incredible story has inspired you to join us at Etape Caledonia 2025, you can find out more below.
If you’ve got an interesting story, you’d like to share please get in touch with us - hello@etapecaledonia.com - we’d love to hear from you.