We love cycles and we love people’s cycle stories. Our Staff and Trustees share our passion, and we wanted to share it with you
What is your name, and what do you do at Wheels for Wellbeing?
What has been your career trajectory; how did you come to end up working at WfW?
I have always wanted to be an outdoor instructor, I love the outdoors and want to make it more accessible. I have qualifications in water sports, bush craft and even got a degree in Outdoor Adventure Leadership Management. Before I got to Wheels I had 4 surgeries in a space of a year and couldn’t work. I was born with VACTERL association and Trio Neurodevelopmental disability and have constantly needed to have surgery throughout my life.
In between my surgeries my cousin passed from a glioblastoma and I wanted to raise money for brain tumour research so signed up to do 275 miles during the month of August. I bought my first up right trike from a cheap online shop and managed to raise roughly £500. This was the first time I ever cycled.
When I got an invite from my lovely friend who lives in Leeds they were running an accessible session using e-cycles and hand cycles around Dovestone, I was so inspired by it my friend sent me a link to this wonderful charity (Wheels for Wellbeing) as obviously this was closer, so I took the leap and started volunteering.
I love the sessions in Ladywell and got the opportunity to be the first person on the loan scheme for Wheels4Me. Being able to become a bikeability cycle instructor, being part of campaigns and working for Wheels has put my career on a really high trajectory. I can’t thank Wheels enough.
Do you use a cycle? What/how/where?
Yes, I am very fortunate to own my vanRaam Compact Easy Rider. I managed to try it out for a month (I did get the time extended), then decided I was going to save up and apply for grants to get it.
I use it for everything. I take it around shops, take it for short journeys, long journeys. I have currently done about 3,700km since getting it 6 months ago. My cycle has become my main source of income, my transport and most importantly my main mobility aid!
What does cycling mean to you, and your overall wellbeing?
Cycling gives me freedom, independence, but it has also opened up my world meeting new people and the possibilities seem endless when I am cycling. I have become a better advocate for myself and a lot of my friends have noticed that I am a lot more confident with what my body can do. My mental health has hugely improved since I started cycling.
Do you have a favourite session, route, or adventure?
I loved my adventure to Edinburgh. I am looking forward to hopefully doing London – Paris this July. I love my job and I am so grateful that every day is very different.
I travel to Herne Hill, Croydon and Ladywell but going into schools to teach bikeability in Hammersmith and Fulham Council is my favourite weekly journey – going over Hammersmith and Putney Bridge whatever the weather is an adventure.
Recently I was cycling over the bank and the water was so high I had to keep telling pedestrians to turn back because there wasn’t any path. It literally felt like I was floating on water!
Is there anything that you think WfW does better than anyone else?
Throughout my career and degree working in the outdoors it has been tough getting things in place so that I could sufficiently do the job role. Working with other people who have a disability has been an incredible experience, I feel so comfortable and I have become so confident in asking for support and my lived experience is something I am proud of rather than something I need to hide.
The best bit for me is being included in campaigns as a Disabled person. It’s been wonderful to feel supported and knowing that there is an organisation that shares the same views as me and I am not doing the “grind” by myself. Every time I feel like the world is changing too slowly or I get frustrated because I feel like I don’t have a voice it’s comforting to know that the organisation I work for agrees and wants to fight with me!
I have felt so included in society, unbelievably grateful for every opportunity Wheels has given me and how they have supported me, like speaking to other councils to get barriers taken away, making Wandsworth more accessible or even my local borough Sutton! It’s amazing how much difference I have seen, working with organisations like the Walk Wheel Cycle Trust and the London Cycling Campaign.
If you had a magic wand, what one thing would you change in #ActiveTravel #InclusiveCycling to benefit Disabled people, their mobility, and their wellbeing?
Gosh, there are so many barriers, infrastructure, financial lack of grants for adults with disabilities, the benefit system that only allows you to choose a wheelchair or car if you even qualify for it.
I think the thing that all of those have in common is ignorance, the lack of understanding that people with disabilities want the exact same thing as people who are able to go to work, travel and explore the country and the world. To do this we need more people to fight and campaign to change the social barriers like trains having an unnecessary pole in the middle of the carriage, or buses not being able to fit a wheelchair and a push chair.
When Disabled people attend focus groups it sometimes feels like we are a tick on a checklist that just gets ignored but at least the company can say they can carry on. Focus groups like TFL’s about the Silver Tunnel, I showed up, showed them that this bus wasn’t accessible but they still went ahead with it.
I would love us to be at the forefront of everything – if it’s not accessible for one it’s not accessible for anyone! Once a Disabled person says this isn’t going to work and they show you it’s not practical it should automatically mean we need to go back to the drawing board.
Allow Disabled people to choose what mobility aid and what speed they should go rather than it being dictated by someone who isn’t Disabled.