Bedford-based disabled cycling club gets boost from National Lottery Community Fund

Affiliated to British Cycling’s Limitless programme, Three Wheelers Bedford is an inclusive cycling club for adults who (in the main) have sustained a stroke. Using semi recumbent tricycles, the need to control your balance is neutralised and the club’s members can get safely back “in the saddle,” feel the wind in their hair and enjoy all the health and well-being benefits of getting on a cycle and getting active.

The only problem with these super cycles is that they are large to store and transport. Thanks to a grant from the National Lottery Community fund, Three Wheelers has been able to replace its old high mileage diesel van to a newer all-electric one. This will lessen the club’s impact on the environment and ensure the club’s future sustainability. A real win win.

Members of the club, who can cycle twice a week at Mowsbury Park, Bedford said, “after a couple of laps of the park I can have a guilt free bacon sandwich at the café” or that they “no longer feel invisible” as other park users stop them and talk. Something that they say, will never happen if they were sitting in their wheelchair or on a mobility scooter.

Three Wheelers has been set up and is operated entirely by volunteers who just wanted to give stroke survivors the opportunity to take some regular exercise. But the club has delivered far more than that initial aim. The club offers a place to meet, make friends and share solutions to challenges faced by people and their partners who are in the same boat.

Thanks go to the National Lottery Community Fund who have helped secure this club’s sustainability well into the future.

If you or someone you know might be interested in whether cycling with Three Wheelers Bedford is something they might be able to do and enjoy then email Jennie at [email protected] or pick up a leaflet from the Four Seasons Café when you are next visiting Mowsbury Park.