A NEWLY formed charity, ‘Cycling Without Age — West Devon and East Cornwall’, has kicked off its fundraising efforts in fine style with a donation from a local women’s cycling group.

The Widger Spoke Easies raised money at its annual meeting and dinner in December and presented the money to Cycling Without Age (CWA) at Lifton Farm Shop on January 11.

CWA trustee Adam Corney said: “This generous gift from the ladies of the Widger Spoke Easies is our first major donation and sets us on the road towards our goal of raising £20,000 to fund two tricycles for the Launceston and Tavistock areas.”

CWA will hold a launch event and race evening on Saturday, January 18, at Launceston Golf Club, where in addition to fun horse races, people will be able to learn more about the new charity and the opportunities to get involved with volunteering.

CWA volunteer pilots take local elders and care/nursing homes residents out on ‘trishaw’ cycle rides to feel the wind in their hair. 

Bringing generations closer together using a special trishaw — a three-wheel cycle with a passenger cab out front.

It has electrical power assist, so no need to be super-sporty to be a volunteer cycle pilot. Rides are comfortable, fun and free. It enables people to experience the city and nature close-up from the bicycle.

It provides an opportunity to regain social connection and for people to tell their story in the environment where they have lived their lives.

The work builds bridges between generations and reinforces trust, respect and the social glue of society.

The cycle pilots and passengers alike enjoy the physical and emotional well-being benefits. The joy of riding in the trishaw cab stimulates spirits to fly and stories to flow.

CWA, a non-profit global initiative, founded in Copenhagen in 2012, has now spread world-wide. 

Each local chapter is run by volunteers with guiding principles of generosity, slowness, storytelling, relationships and without age.

The idea for a branch formed about the same time in the towns of Tavistock and Launceston.

A spokesperson said: “We have a core of committed cyclists and community minded people in our areas and their love of cycling can be coupled with individual goodwill to create a resource to improve the lives of older and disadvantaged people near us.

“This pool will allow us to train a team of ‘pilots’ and supporters to operate the rides safely and enjoyably. Safety, security and safeguarding will be at the core of what we do.

“We have decided to pool our resources to avoid duplication on organisation and admin. There will however, still be a trike for each town. We are now registered with the Charity Commission as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO). This allows us to put in place ‘best practice’ governance to manage the project for the long term. We have formed a committee of five trustees to steer the work as we develop, consisting of an accountant, lawyer, business persons and cyclists with experience of nursing homes.”

For more information contact Adam on 07942 685 927 or email [email protected]