Cycling Without Age is a global movement started in 2012 by Ole Kassow in Copenhagen. Ole wanted to help the elderly get back on their bicycles, but he had to find a solution to their limited mobility. The answer was a trishaw and he started offering free bike rides to the local nursing home residents.
Cycling Without Age St. George. Tom Trump & Scott Richardson holding a new banner. Tom is the Executive Director of Southgate Senior Living, our pilot program partner in St George.
Click Here to Donate to Cycling Without Age St George
About the St George Chapter
Founded in the fall of 2019. We formed a committee in October to organize Cycling without Age St George and partnered with Southgate Senior Living to be our pilot facility. In November of 2019, we ordered our first trishaw. We received “Lucy” our first trishaw in February 2020.
OUR GOAL
To break the elderly free from social isolation. Make them smile. Make new memories. And let them be part of society again and thereby renew their appetite for life itself. We give them the right to wind in their hair. We aim to reach and improve the lives of the elderly and disabled by making nursing homes a place of joy and continued mobility. We believe that life can and should be beautiful even if you’re close to 100 years.
HOW IT WORKS
Volunteers (pilots) sign up for bike rides with the elderly as often or as rarely as they want to. It’s all driven by people’s own motivation.
CWA is less about volunteering in the traditional sense of the word, and more about active citizenship. Citizenship is driven by a desire to get involved and to make a real difference for someone. It’s about creating relationships between people.
OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES
Generosity: Cycling Without Age is based on generosity and kindness. It starts with the obvious generous act of taking one or two elderly or less-abled people out on a bike ride. It’s a simple act that everyone can do.
Slowness: Slowness allows you to sense the environment, be present in the moment and it allows people you meet along the way to be curious and gain knowledge about Cycling Without Age because you make time to stop and talk.
Storytelling: Elderly people have so many stories that will be forgotten if we don’t reach out and listen to them. We tell stories, we listen to stories on the bike and we also document the stories when we share them via word of mouth or on social media.
Relationships: Cycling Without Age is about creating a multitude of new relationships: between generations, among the elderly, between pilots and passengers, nursing homes employees and family members. Relationships build trust, happiness and quality of life.
Without Age: Life does not end when you turn 75. Life unfolds at all ages, young and old, and can be thrilling, fun, sad, beautiful and meaningful. Cycling Without Age is about letting people age in a positive context – fully aware of the opportunities that lie ahead when interacting in their local community.
Cycling Without Age Facts (As of March 2019)
- Invented in 2012 in Copenhagen
- Represented in 42 countries worldwide
- 1,643 chapter locations
- 2,200 trishaws
- 29,270 trained cycle pilots
- 114,000 people served
- Oldest pilot is 90 (Jørgen Hass, Denmark) and oldest passenger 107 (Madam Yeo Iu, Singapore)
- Our trishaws cycle 2.8 million km a year or 70 times around the world
CWA St George milestones:
- September 2019 – Awarded St George Chapter of Cycling Without Age
- October 2019 – Formed Committee to organise Cycling Without Age St George
- October 2019 – Partnered with Southgate Senior Living for Pilot Project Facility
- November 2019 – Ordered first Trishaw from Copenhagen
- February 2020 – Received our first Trishaw! Her name is “Lucy” and she is beautiful!
How You Can Help Us
BE A DONOR
Please Help Us To Fundraise – We need to buy two trishaws!
Built-in Denmark and periodically imported to North America, it takes several months to get a trishaw. We are targeting an initial purchase of two trishaws by the spring of 2020 and we have launched our fundraising campaign to make this happen.
We are inviting donors to purchase components of the trishaw from the list below.
BE A PARTNER
Whether you’re a community center or a retirement home, Cycling Without Age St George would love to work with your staff to design a regular program of rides, routes, and schedules. Let us take your participants for a ride and give them the opportunity to feel the wind in their hair. Our 2019 partners include: Southgate Senior Living
BE A PILOT
Sign up to take passengers for rides and encourage them to share their stories. Please email us and we will send a pilot application.
Cycling Without Age is based on generosity and kindness. It starts with the obvious generous act of taking one or two elderly or less-abled people out on a bike ride. It’s a simple act that everyone can do.
Elderly people have so many stories that will be forgotten if we don’t reach out and listen to them. We tell stories, we listen to stories on the bike and we also document the stories when we share them via word of mouth or on social media.
The St George Team
• Tom Trump – Executive Director, Southgate Senior Living
• Julie Parker – Life Enrichment Director, Southgate Senior Living
• Scott Richardson – Captain, St George Cycling Without Age
• Craig & Di Shanklin, Stuart Shanklin, David Poffenberger, Denise Purdue, Kristina Black, Rebecca Richardson – St George CWA Committee Members
Contact Us
Cycling Without Age St George
For volunteering opportunities or donations
st.george@cyclingwithoutage.com
Meet Fraser from Scotland
Watch the BBC video that went viral.
