Tower Hamlets Wheelers
NEWS RELEASE 24 March 2003
For immediate release
Ref THW07AllAbilities240303
Ken Livingstone To Launch Cycling Group For The Disabled - Followed By A Photo-Op With Tower Hamlets & Newham Residents: Demonstration Of Cycles Made For Disabled People
The Tower Hamlets Wheelers (1) are joining the London Cycling Campaign and
Transport for London (2) at their launch of the All Abilities Cycling Group
(AACG) at 10:30am on Tuesday 25 March at City Hall (3), where Mayor Ken
Livingstone and the Group's chair Debbie Allaire will speak to an audience
of disabled people, MPs and GLA Members.
There will then be a photo-opportunity, and an opportunity for disabled
people to try out a range of adapted cycles. Hand-cycles, tandems, recumbent
cycles, the Duet wheelchair/cycle and side-by-side cycles will be tried out
by disabled people from Tower Hamlets and Newham (amongst others):
Wheelchair user John Per from Tower Hamlets (Poplar) took part in the Tower
Hamlets Wheelers Great Beigel Race last year (please see news release 01
July 2002 THW3bikeweekreport010702 available on the Wheelers website). He is chair of the
Tower Hamlets Accessible Transport Consultative Forum which helps make
improvements to public transport to make it more accessible to disabled
people.
Matthilda Rangel from Newham (Bekton) used to use a tricycle as a child but
as her disability progressed she found it harder to cycle. "I'm looking
forward to finding a bike here that I can use, as I really miss cycling,"
she says (4).
Wheelchair user Dave Crowl from Tower Hamlets (Bow) has featured on London
Underground publicity (5).
Also present will be 37-year old amputee Jim Bush, who in 1999 cycled New
Zealand end to end (1,607 miles), raising money for the Limbless Association
and Headway. (Not a resident of Tower Hamlets or Newham.)
"The London Cycling Campaign wants to make London a world class cycling
city," says Debbie Allaire , AACG chair. "That means working with all
sections of the community. Cycling is fun, it's good exercise and
convenient transport. Some disabled people cycle already, and we hope that
this group will encourage many others."
"Anyone can cycle," says Oliver Taylor of hire firm London Recumbents, who
are providing the try-out cycles. "It's just a matter of having the right
equipment. We've been hiring out cycles to disabled people in London for
seven years and we've hardly ever found anyone we can't supply with a usable
bike."
"Disabled people have higher expectations than they used to," says Allan
Sutherland, cycling correspondent for Disability Now and a member of the
group. "We don't want to be trapped in cars. Cycles are the most
liberating form of transport in existence. Of course disabled people want
to be part of that."
The All Abilities Cycling Guide will be distributed along with information
about future events (6).
ENDS
For more details: (please contact the right person!)
- about the London Cycling Campaign: contact Tom Bogdanowicz, Campaigns
Manager, London Cycling Campaign Unit 228, 30 Great Guildford Street, London
SE1 0HS tel: 020 7928 6112 email: tom@lcc.org.uk www.lcc.org.uk
- about the AACG: contact Allan Sutherland atsutherland@freeuk.com tel: 020
7326 1811 or Debbie Allaire debbieallaire@onetel.com
- about the Tower Hamlets Wheelers: contact Alix Stredwick 07903 606 330
(home 020 8880 6873)
Notes
(1) The Tower Hamlets Wheelers is the local cycle action group in the east
London Borough of Tower Hamlets, campaigning for better cycling facilities
and encouraging more people to cycle - for health, the environment and for
London. The Wheelers are affiliated to the London Cycling Campaign, the
largest urban cycling campaign in the world.
(2) www.tfl.gov.uk
(3) Address: City Hall, Queen's Walk, London SE1 2AA
(4) Matt has Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita www.tagonline.org.uk
Basically she was born with multiple curved joints.
(5) Dave has cerebral palsy.
(6) If you need a copy of the Guide but cannot make it to the event please
email tom@lcc.org.uk with your name and postal address.
(7) 2003 is the European Year of People with Disabilities www.eypd2003.org/eypd/
Tower Hamlets Wheelers
wheelers@towerhamletswheelers.org.uk
www.towerhamletswheelers.org.uk
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