Leicestershire residents had the chance to try something new at an adapted cycling event held at County Hall on Tuesday (26 May), made possible through funding from Active Travel England.
Adapted cycling sessions provide inclusive cycling using a variety of specialist equipment like trikes, handcycles and wheelchair carriers. The sessions have been coordinated by Leicestershire County Council’s sustainable travel team and showcase a variety of options to help people travel more easily and stay active.
The event, run with Leicester Wheels for All (LWFA), welcomed 28 local people for friendly taster sessions, with most attendees being young people. The event focused on helping them build confidence, develop new skills, and explore how cycling could support their independence, wellbeing, and future travel choices.
People were able to try a range of specially designed bikes and trikes, with support from trained instructors who helped match each person to the right equipment for their needs. Families and carers were also there to support and join in.
“Thanks to this funding from Active Travel England, we’re able to give more people the chance to experience adapted cycling first-hand. It was especially encouraging to see young people taking part, building confidence, and gaining skills that will help them travel more independently now and in the future.”
Person:Councillor Andrew Hamilton-Gray, cabinet member for highways and transport at Leicestershire County Council
“We’re here to help people find out about different bikes, what they can do, what will work for them, and give them some ideas where they can purchase and hopefully get their own bikes – so they can be independent and get the freedom of cycling that everybody enjoys.
“You can’t get these bikes from a standard bike shop; there’s only a handful of suppliers in the UK that manufacture these bikes so they’re very specialised. And we’ve got TomCat here today to assist us because they can build a bike around someone’s disability. It doesn’t really matter what the disability is, we can find a bike which will work for somebody. And we’ve got a long history of never being defeated.”
Person:Eric Ludlow from LWFA
The LWFA team have been holding events across the county as part of their scheme with the county council under the Legacy Grant scheme, funded by Active Travel England, including a session in June for pupils at Birch Wood School in Melton.
Leicestershire residents have another chance for this opportunity on Sunday 28th June. Contact events@leicesterwheelsforall.org to find out more.
To find out more about travel options in Leicestershire visit the Choose How You Move website.