Red Wheelies
Friday, July 23rd, 2010Jackie Weeden tells us about the scooter formation team that is putting the fun into fundraising!
The Red Wheelies Mobility Formation Team like many things came about by accident. All the team members have multiple sclerosis and ride mobility scooters and wanted to race their scooters, after all even lawn-mowers are raced so why not scooters? After some initial trials and tribulations to be allowed to race they found a suitable venue. It was while waiting to race that a couple of the girls started weaving in-and-out of each other and eureka the Red Wheelies were born. A dressage choreographer designed the original routine, a uniform was agreed on and as the scooters being used were all red the name Red Wheelies seemed just right. The Red Wheelies were born and took part in fun days raising money for local MS charities.
Two of the original team moved to the Kent coast where they became members of the Kent MS Therapy Centre. Realising some serious fund-raising was required, they resurrected the Red Wheelies team. Notices were put up in the centre asking for volunteers from the users of the centre to join. A number did and were surprised how much they enjoyed themselves. As not everyone had their own scooter, local mobility company UK Mobility was approached and agreed to supply additional scooters. Soon 8 ladies could be seen practicing on their scooters in the centre’s car-park to the strains of Shania Twain.
Performances were made at a number of local fetes and took part in the wettest Herne Bay Carnival ever. Wet Weather conditions became synonymous with Wheelie performances to the point where wet weather is now known by the team as ‘wheelie weather’.
Realising a much bigger effort was needed by the team to raise the sort of money that could really be beneficial to KMSTC, the group decided upon the idea of a charity walk. Due to the teams shared condition charity walks are normally not an option but the group were set upon the idea of participating in one themselves. After one of the team went to Cumbria on holiday she suggested the team ‘walked’ Hadrian’s Wall on their scooters, in effect the team’s second pair of legs.
An email was sent to David McGlade at Hadrian’s Wall Heritage Ltd, the company with overall responsibility for the trails, explaining the plan while asking for any help they could offer. Their response was superb, leading to the company being instrumental in helping plan the route and introducing the Wheelies to people on the trail who could help.
Forever Active stepped in to offer the team ten Quingosports scooters for the trek. These scooters are fantastic, designed specifically for the terrain covered on the route. Knowing the teams penchant for attracting ‘Wheelie Weather’ local firm Colmans of Herne Bay donated wet weather gear.
The trek should take approximately a fortnight to travel the 84 miles between Segedunum and Bowness-on Solway. At the end there will be a lasting legacy of a trail that is truly suitable for all. The team consists of 16 individuals – the nine actual Wheelies, plus seven long-suffering husbands acting as the teams support crew. The team is treating it as their annual holiday, paying for their own accommodation, travel and food expenses. As a result all money raised will be going direct to the charity. Progress on the walk can be followed on both www.redwheelies.co.uk and www.twitter.com/redwheelies.
The journey starts with a Blessing from The Dean of Canterbury Cathedral, as the Wheelies move from one World Heritage site to another – Hadrians Wall. On the 11th of May a civic send-off from Segedunum by the Chief Executive of North Tyneside Council starts the walk proper, which concludes with a reception at the end of the walk with the Mayors of Allerdale and Maryport.
The Hadrian’s Wall Walk team are a diverse collection. Eight of the nine members are grannies, two celebrate their ruby wedding anniversaries this year, three will turn 60 before the end of 2009 and between them boast an impressive combined age of 542. The ninth member is an ex-wheelie who jumped at the chance to take part.
Planning the walk has been hard work but fun for the group. Having done it all themselves, the team remain surprised at how much they have already achieved, beyond their own expectations. The team hope to raise money for the charity, help create a trail suitable for use by disabled people, raise positive ms awareness – there is life with MS and to have fun and a memorable experience.
This article first appeared in the July 2009 issue of Mobilise magazine, which goes out to all our members and includes reviews of adapted cars and mobility equipment, features on accessible travel and leisure, campaign updates, news, competitions and real-life stories.
Membership of our charity costs just £16 per year and includes your monthly subscription to Mobilise.
Tags: campaign, scooter, sport