Irish Wheelchair Association launch new trishaw bike in Athlone
The Athlone branch of the Irish Wheelchair Association (IWA) hosted an event recently in Clonbrusk Sensory Garden to celebrate the launch of their new trishaw bike.
Having first identified trishaw bikes through the Cycling Without Age Ireland initiative, the Athlone branch have been keen to purchase one for their members. It is through the generosity of the public and the IWA's various fundraisers that this dream has become a reality.
Cllr Frankie Keena, Chairperson of the Athlone branch, has thanked the public for their support, and specifically emphasised the efforts of his fellow committee members for their work in carrying out fundraisers throughout the years. He said that: “We are very grateful to everyone who made this possible.”
Of the bike itself, he said: “The whole idea of the trishaw is to give the user a sense of fun and craic. It is fantastic to see the joy of those with mobility impairment as they experience the feeling of the wind in their hair while being brought throughout the countryside on a bicycle.”
Cllr Keena continued: “To sustain the anticipated demand for using the trishaw a large number of people have kindly volunteered their time and completed a training course on the use of the bike. I would like to thank those volunteers for giving their time to offer this opportunity of joy to the service users in a safe manner.“ This opportunity will also be available to the Offaly service users, who also contributed to the purchase of the trishaw.
Athlone IWA Services Co-ordinator, Monica Hughes, also emphasised the benefits of their new bike, specifically for younger people: “The kids absolutely love the trishaw. Some of these children have never been on a bike before.”
As the trishaw launch event took place during National Week for Volunteers, Monica paid specific tribute to everyone who made the event possible: “We want to thank the public for their generosity and the volunteers who work with us. We want to thank them for all that they do. It takes a lot of effort and hard work, especially in these trying times. Thank you.”
Monica also wished to highlight the mixture of IWA staff and volunteers who took part in the VHI Women's Mini Marathon on June 4 to raise money for the trishaw project.
Tom Daly, Treasurer, said: “It is important that everyone who is involved in fundraising gets to see the difference it makes. Every cent that comes in gets spent locally. We have brilliant support.”
The entire launch event was a huge success, and brought together many members of the local community for a great day out. Community Guard Aileen O'Connor and Cllr Frankie Keena were on hand to cut the ribbon. This is all part of a bigger project, and they hope to have more bikes in the future.