Cycling Without Age Chester
Help us to take vulnerable, isolated and often lonely elderly in the community for free rides in electrically assisted trishaws to give them freedom, fun and to feel the 'wind in their hair' again!
About the Project Creator
Cycling without Age is a movement started in 2012 by Ole Kassow. Ole wanted to help the elders get back on their bicycles, but he had to find a solution to their limited mobility. The answer was an electrically assisted trishaw and he started offering free bike rides to the local nursing home residents. CWA brings generations closer together by sharing experiences by bike and allowing the vulnerable and often isolated elderly living independently or in residential homes to experience friendship, fresh air and freedom in these uniquely designed trishaws.
Volunteer drivers called ‘pilots’ sign up for bike rides with the elderly. It’s all driven by people’s own motivation. At present (March 2021) more than 2,500 chapter locations around the world offer Cycling Without Age from well over 3,500 trishaws – and the numbers are still growing. More than 35,000 trained pilots ensure that the elderly get out on the bikes to enjoy the fresh air and the community around them. They give them the right to wind in their hair.
We would like to bring this inspiring initiative to Chester. We see this as a community project involving intergenerational volunteers and we would like to develop a fleet of trishaws to allow rides not only out of retirement villages and residential homes but between friends and families who would otherwise be unable to experience this freedom. Chester has an enormous cycling community with suitable terrain such as the Cheshire Cycleway, the River Dee path, bridleways, towpaths and not too far away Chester Zoo, Delamere Forest and the Whitegate Way. Our hope is to be able to join together these assets to create a thriving Chester Chapter.