New Committee Members
The BikeAbility Wales committee has some new members.
Jackie Wildman is now the chair, Geri Richards is the new secretary, and Rob Wachowski is continuing as Treasurer.
Laura Bolton is now receiving a salary from BikeAbility, paid through a grant from SCVS, and is continuing to develop the work of the organisation.
More Grant Funding on the way
Great news – BikeAbility Wales has been given another grant.
The Barchester Healthcare Foundation has given us a grant of £2750 to buy a Velo-Plus Wheelchair Transporter, which we hope to have by July 2007.
Here is a picture of a Velo-Plus Wheelchair Transporter.
Training Course Update
Unfortunately, the Wheels for All training courses on June 4th-6th has had to be cancelled due to the instructor being ill.
The July Leader’s Course is still on though and we would encourage people to attend the course.
The Leader’s course in particular will enable participants to run cycling sessions independently, and be covered by the insurance Policy that BikeAbility now holds.
Further details of the courses are available to download from the link below.
Wheels for All Training Course – July 2007 (4.6MB – Microsoft Word file)
Cycling Exhibition at Swansea Museum
BikeAbility will be taking part in an exhibition which will run from mid June to mid July at Swansea Museum.
Visit it to see what BikeAbility Wales are doing!
Cycle Sessions
Wheels for All will be bringing down a selection of their bikes which will be available for use while the courses are running (June 4-6th), please contact us at BikeAbility Wales to arrange times to come to the sessions.
Training Courses
To launch our move, Wheels for All are coming down from Manchester to hold two training courses between June 4th-6th 2007, so that people can really start using the bikes much more regularly.
We would encourage people to attend these courses; the Leader’s course in particular will enable participants to run cycling sessions independently, and be covered by the insurance Policy that BikeAbility now holds.
Further details of the courses are available to download from the link below.
Wheels for All Training Courses – June 2007 (4.6MB – Microsoft Word file)
BikeAbility will soon be moving
BikeAbility will soon be moving to a new home at Dunvant Rugby Club.
After a three year stay in at the Ramada Jarvis Hotel, we are now heading West and hope to start construction soon of a link from the Rugby Club grounds to the Clyne Valley Cycle Track.
Our new home should in many ways be ideal – there is a tarmac area where we will be able to use the bikes straight from the storage container, and we anticipate that we will now be able to have much greater use of our bikes.
Outstanding Voluntary Service To The Community
Laura Lockwood was nominated in the City and County of Swansea Lord Mayor’s Community Regeneration Awards 2007 for her work in setting up the organisation Bikeability, which enables people with disabilities to enjoy the pleasures and health benefits of cycling.
Until last year she worked on the project in her spare time but has taken the bold step of leaving paid employment to work on it full time. It is now on the brink of becoming a registered charity with a full range of specialist bikes and its own bike track. It is through Laura’s commitment, energy and enthusiasm that the project is now developing so successfully.
Laura was the winner of the ‘Outstanding Voluntary Service to the Community’ category.
Welcome to BikeAbility Wales
BikeAbility is in essence a very simple project – its aim is to enable people of all abilities to enjoy the pleasures and health benefits of cycling.
The idea to develop provision for people in Swansea with disabilities to go cycling first took shape in 2006. Through work with Sustrans, the sustainable transport charity, we saw at first hand the immense pleasure that a young disabled boy gained from being able to ride on the back of a tandem.
Following this we started to explore what equipment and opportunities were available for people who were unable to ride a standard bicycle, and realised that there was no provision of this kind in the Swansea area.
