Cycling Without Age - Trafford
The Pitch
Problem statement
Social isolation is a problem which can affect people of all ages. Getting out and about in the local communiity has been proven to help with peoples mental health and wellbeing. A simple bike ride or walk will really lift the spirits, however, some people are less physically able to do this by themselves and therefore become more isolated. We enable everyone to access the outdoors and to feel the wind in their hair once again.
Solution
Our project aims to help people feel the wind in their hair again. Our volunteers take people who are isolated out for a trishaw ride around their local area. We have two specially designed tricycles which allow our volunteer 'pilots' to take two passengers for a bike ride. We operate from two locations in Trafford and work with several care homes and charities which aim to reduce social isolation. One of our pilots said, 'giving rides is like a shot of joy!' We have 10+ active volunteer pilots and 4 board members. We require annual funding for insurance for the two trishaws, for servicing and parts and other out of pocket expenses - such as cleaning materials.
Why are we best placed to deliver?
We have been operating for more than 4 years in Trafford and have built relationships with local care homes and charities. Our four board members have provided continuity over the 4 years and we have 10+ volunteers. We are already operational in Urmston and Old Trafford. We have recruited and trained over 30 pilots throughout the years and are currently able to provide 10+ rides per week. Our project is up and running and with this funding we can can continue to reduce social isolation for both our passengers and our volunteer pilots.
Focus Areas
Delivery plan
Budget breakdown
| Insurance | £1,000 |
| Trishaw servicing | £500 |
| Parts | £500 |
| Cleaning materials, printing leaflets etc | £500 |
Beneficiaries
120 people
Expected impact
We already work with 4 care homes in the Urmston area and hope to expand that to more settings in Old Trafford. We take passengers out for rides around their local area and feedback tells us that this improves moods, helps passengers make connections with the pilots and people they meet on the rides. The passengers tell stories of their lives and neighbourhoods. Everyone feels lifted and happier when they feel the wind in their hair. Some passengers sing songs as they ride around! We also try to reach isolated people not in care homes by working with befriending organisations and younger peoples mental health charities - it's a great activity for people to take their neighbours for a ride. Individuals contact us through social media to arrange this.Over the next 6 months we hope to run 10 rides a week - this would be across our 2 sites, with approx 2 sessions per week. We have enough active volunteers to allow this.
Track record
Over the last year we have enabled residents from 4 care homes in Trafford to regularly feel the wind in their hair as we've been able to provide volunteer pilots to take them out for rides. We have 10+ trained pilots and 4 board members able to ride our 2 specially designed trishaws, that allow 2 passengers to feel the wind in their hair again. During the summer we were providing 20+ rides a month to various care homes and individual passengers. Passengers have told us that they really look forward to their rides and that it's a highlight of the week.