Wow, I am in a bit of daze after yesterday’s event. It was truly wonderful. The laughter, joy and freedom on students faces when they were riding the adaptive bikes was enough to bring me to tears.
It was by far my favourite day of the internship so far.
I have been so nervous the last few days. l think I woke up three times the night before. Each time butterflies spread through my tummy, thinking oh what if no-one turns up or what if it rains.
It was the first event I have planned completely on my own; everything from the choosing the organisations, to the promotion, to the catering! My main aim was to bring incredible people together to share their passion for inclusive cycling, physical activity and sustainability. I really think we managed that and more.
The morning of the event, I jumped out of bed, put trainers on and flew out the door. I ran through the quiet streets of Stirling, full of nerves and excitement. The sky was beautifully clear, and the sun was just beginning to rise. I stopped off at Tesco on the way home, picking up last minute goodies for the event and then rushed back to get ready.
On the train, the wonderful cake Sara, the baker from “Sprinkle of happiness” made began to crack right down the middle. I tried not to panic too much as it still looked incredible.
I arrived at the college nice and early to prepare and do some last-minute promotion. As I approached the entrance, I felt a pain of disappointment as I seen the drop off car park FULL of cars- the area we were using for the adaptive bike session. I had organised for barriers to be put up to close the drop off point weeks before. I even emailed the day before to double check. I tried not to panic. I ran to the Estate’s office and explained what happened. Three hero workers helped me barricade the car park- saving the day.
I nipped to the office to send a few reminder emails before it all began. At 11.30am, I received an incredible email from a teacher saying that she would bring her full class at 1.15pm! In that moment I knew it was going to be amazing.
When we began to set up all the nerves and worries leading up to the event evaporated. Everything was coming together, and it was so exciting!
Alex saved the day by helping me cut and display the cake and brownies. They looked incredible. He cut amazing slabs of cake; I literally seen people’s eyes pop out when they saw it! It was a great way to draw people in, especially at the beginning of the event, where I asked students to come and try the bikes before they had a slab. (It disappeared before I remembered to take a picture)
Inside we had;
Adam and Matilda from Sustrans promoting The Scottish Workplace commuter challenge with the amazing smoothie bike and other goodies.
Alex and Claire from our Student Association promoting their travel challenge. < There is still time to sign up!
Bonnie from Sweco running the amazing Sustainability Road Show
Jack from Lothian Disability Sport providing information about all of the amazing work they do across Edinburgh
Plus, a table for tea, coffee, brownies and cake!
Outside;
Sam from The Edinburgh Bike Station running Dr Bike.
David from Edinburgh All-Abilities Cycling Centre ran the adaptive bike sessions.
The joy, freedom and liberation I seen in students faces as they cycled round, and round was enough to bring me to tears. It was humbling and inspiring to watch and be a part of.
I had so many wonderful conversations surrounding inclusive active travel and the liberating joy of cycling. I spoke to students about their experiences, I spoke to parents that had children with disabilities who were keen to find out more about adaptive bikes and I even spoke to a man who lived in the neighborhood; he had seen he event advertised on Facebook and wanted to find out more about the types of adaptive bikes he could use.
I also invited lots of different people to come along and support the event. I was so happy to have Sara the Equalities Officer, Ruairidh from the Bike Station, Carola the beautiful CCO of Napier and many other cool people pop in to support the event.
I think the pictures and videos express the event better than I can put into words.
Next step is to set up the weekly sessions at Edinburgh ABC and recreate the same event elsewhere!
I really feel in my heart that the event was the start of something special. Bringing people together to experience cycling, share stories and relate to each other is powerful.
To me, this event highlights even more, how similar we all are; we all want connection, joy and love. Cycling and active travel can be a great way to foster those emotions and connections for everyone.
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