An ACH day out - bike maintenance, cycling, exploring and
foraging!
As you may have spotted from our Twitter updates yesterday, we
went on a tenant bike ride! We were even treated to a beautiful sunny day for
the occasion.
The event was organised by our Bristol support team and through the wonders of Streetbank we even had a trained bike maintenance workshop provided by Jackie who works for Life Cycle UK.
The day consisted of cycling to Warmley along the Bristol to
Bath cycle path and foraging in Warmley forest park. Although there was a huge
mix of cycling abilities – Moomin being the oldest at 67 and not having cycled
for 9 years, whilst others hadn’t cycled for a year or two and others cycled
regularly, the group thoroughly enjoyed the ride! With the cycle ride being led
by Jackie, we all felt safe and relaxed and able to enjoy the easy and scenic
route.
The benefits of the ride were truly felt by all!
- Getting to know places on their doorstep
- Learning about the importance of bike maintenance
- Enjoying the natural resources available such as blackberries and apples!
- Getting fit with some gentle exercise and benefiting from the fresh air
- Meeting new people
... and the smiles still haven’t vanished!
But enough from us... let our tenants' words and photos do
the talking!
Jutair said he barely left the house and felt he was very lazy. At the
start he was complaining that his legs ached, but by the end of the cycle he
was asking Naomi how he could get his own bike.
“I don’t want to go back. I’m so glad I came!” Jutair
“Can we do this every week?”
“When can we do the next one?”
“I had a really good time and met new people”
“I’ve only had the opportunity to cycle once since being in the UK”
Hithum. He now wants to get a bike.
“Through talking to people I was reminded that we have a real mix of
tenants: some who have been in the country for years, others for months. Using
the term refugee sometimes puts everyone in the same group, whereas everyone
has a different life story to tell.” Aletia our ACH communications intern.
Check out the video from the Bike Ride
(Go-pro courtesy of the the magic of Streetbank!)
No comments:
Post a Comment