The Cycling Projects charity is restarting its sessions this February at Cleavley Athletics track in Salford.

The charity started in Salford 30 years ago and since then has now more than 50 cycling centres in the UK.

The Wheels for all initiative was created to encourage people with different needs to engage in cycling.

Sessional leader Bernie McGrath and some of the volunteers from the charity will be restarting these sessions on February 18 every Friday from 10am–2pm and every Saturday from 10am–midday.

“The primary focus is to provide for people who for instance, might be in wheelchairs or who have some sort of disability to facilitate a ride,” Bernie says. “Able-bodied people are welcome as well.

“We probably have eight or nine different types of trikes, then there’s two tandem bikes and one tandem with one rider behind the other, a collection of adult and children’s bikes and we also have two hand-cranked bikes so if people are in a wheelchair and cannot use their body from the waist down, they can use those.

“If we didn’t have the right bike for somebody, we could source one from elsewhere in the charity.

“If people come along with a carer, the carer would ride as well part of the emphasis is that it’s a social thing. We don’t charge if the carers want to ride.”

Cycling Projects is also starting another activity soon called Bike Buddy.

“The idea is that once people get used to the track, they might want to venture further afield”

“Once somebody has got confident on the track, we would take them out, up and down the track on Port Salford Greenway then they could start going out independently”

“They might be going out on adapted bikes like a trike or four-wheeler so the considerations are slightly different there than with a standard bike because the routes have to be risk assessed”

However, the sessions welcome people who want to use their own wheels as well.

“We have had occasionally people bringing their own bikes and wheelchairs to get a bit of exercise”

For more information on this go to https://www.facebook.com/Wheels-for-All-Salford-107123241886998/

Photograph taken by Bernie McGrath

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