Remember our recent advertisements looking for a Marketing and Communications Manager? We’d like to thank all those who shared the ads, and all those who submitted applications. The standard was especially high, and it is gratifying to know the sheer quality and quantity of professionals working in the #ActiveTravel and #InclusiveCycling worlds.

Following a rigorous interview process, we are pleased to welcome our new MarComms Manager, Tom Staniford. Could you please introduce yourself, Tom?
Hello. I’m a passionate cyclist and marketing consultant, having worked for around 15 years with individuals, companies, and charities, big and small. I’m also one of around 20 people worldwide with MDP Syndrome, a genetic condition which affects me (and my cycling!) in many different ways- I have limited flexibility, low energy, poor recovery, hearing loss and muscle limitations. I’m a proud Disabled and para-cyclist and won the British National Para-Cycling Championships in 2011. I’m fortunate to be able to ride a ‘standard’ cycle most of the time and am extremely mindful of this privilege, and want to help others experience the joy of cycling, too. This is why I was a Trustee for Wheels For Wellbeing for the last 6 years – a role I sadly had to step down from in order to become an ‘employee’!

Welcome to the team. We hear you have some WfW activity planned beyond your new role?
I last raced a bike competitively in about 2013. My condition is progressive, and the intervening years have not been the kindest. While I have continued to cycle regularly for health, wellbeing, and leisure, it has become increasingly unmanageable. As such, a bilateral transtibial amputation (double below-knee amputation) is planned – in order to improve my mobility and quality of life. To mark this occasion, I am organising a charity bike ride, raising money for WfW and three other charities. Cycling has been such a big and beneficial part of my life, and I’m quite attached to my legs (literally!), so I wanted to give them a decent send-off with ‘one last ride’ – a very sociable, flat, easy, spin involving coffee and cake that all are welcome to attend. Any charitable donations are entirely voluntary.

That’s an unusual motivation for an event! What made you consider this?
The ‘Goodbye Legs Ride’, as it is now affectionately known, was born from my desire not to be limited by my physical condition. As Isabelle, our WfW CEO, regularly reminds us, “anyone can enjoy cycling, given the right equipment, support and environment”. I chose to frame these amputations not as a ‘loss’ of my ability, but a ‘once in a lifetime’ chance to be grateful for the cycling I’ve enjoyed so far, and excited about the opportunities coming – whether I return to a standard bicycle with prosthetic legs, or a tricycle for balance, or handcycling if I find using my legs difficult. Alongside health benefits, the mental and social aspects of cycling are overwhelming, and too important to neglect. Cycling will be part of my future, one way or another, and the great thing about it is that regardless of your situation, it can be. There is a cycle for everyone.

What kind of cycling do you do currently? What cycle will you use on the day?
Most of my cycling currently is done on the turbo trainer in the garage. It’s safe and convenient and fits well around my work, keeping me healthy and in the best physical condition for the upcoming amputations and recovery. On the day, I’ll be using my Brompton folding bicycle. The geometry is very stable, ideal for our low-speed pootling along the bike path, but more importantly, I can also easily lower the saddle height. There will be lots of standing and talking to people who generously came along to support the event, and I can use the lowered saddle like a seat with both feet firmly planted on the floor. Multi-functional!

We’re grateful for your support – but why WfW? Why now?
Obviously, we’re doing the event now as it will be the ‘one last ride’ before the operations – which are coming soon. Beyond that, though, recent political and social developments have stressed the incredible importance of Wheels for Wellbeing’s work right now. Disabled people already face lower employment rates, greater pay disparity, additional costs of living just through being disabled, and the far greater costs of non-standard cycles, not to mention the difficulties in finding a safe space to store, and practice, and use them. Against this desperate backdrop, the Government has indicated further proposed cuts to benefits.

It is a critical time. Who will give Disabled people safe and supported opportunities to cycle? Who will lobby and campaign on their behalf in the key #ActiveTravel #MicroMobility #InclusiveCycling debates? Who will be consulted by decision makers to ensure ALL people can benefit from inclusive infrastructure designs? There’s only WfW, that I’m aware of, who actively fulfil each of these missions.

We note you are supporting a number of other important charities. Who are they, and why?
The Devon Air Ambulance – they saved my life 20 years ago when they airlifted me to hospital following a bike crash. Without them, I wouldn’t be here or have any legs to give up! Despite being a critical part of the region’s Accident & Emergency response, they receive no Government funding.

Exeter UNESCO City of Literature and the Devon and Exeter Institution are two charities I am a Trustee of. Both are devoted to sharing a love of literature and lifelong learning among people of all ages. I have found reading, and the broadening of perspectives and expansion of horizons it brings, to be a huge benefit to me and want others to benefit too.

How can people support the Goodbye Legs Ride, and Wheels for Wellbeing?
I’m glad you asked! There is a dedicated JustGiving page – http://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/Goodbye-Legs where people can donate and find out more about the ride itself.

Alternatively, you can donate directly to WfW on the Donate page. This is a really useful option as it gives you the opportunity to donate a single sum or sign up to a regular monthly donation to support WfW’s vital work. Thank you, truly, for any donations you can give. Our work is never done.

Thanks Tom. We wish you all the very best for the day, and for your upcoming operations and recovery!