Wheels of Happiness for Young Sligo Girl

Equal access to cycling for children, regardless of their ability is what our Recycle Mobility Programme is all about.

Thanks to the kind support of Minister Rabbitte and The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth who championed this project with Variety Ireland and the support of Minister Eamon Ryan,  Minister Jack Chambers from The Department of Transport and the HSE, we have been able to ensure hundreds of children, disability groups and special schools around Ireland continue to benefit from cycling by supplying new and upcycled special mobility trikes.

Research conducted by Dr Jolanta Burke from the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland has shown that inclusion for cycling for children with disabilities can improve the mental and physical well-being of both the child and family members by up to 87.5%.

Recently we visited a young lady called Ríona from Co Sligo to deliver her own special mobility trike. Ríona who has Cerebral Palsy was presented with her new set of wheels by Bernard O’Regan from the HSE. Bernard got to see the smile on Ríona’s face as she tries out her new trike for the very first time. This now means Ríona and other family members can now get to experience all the beautiful greenways, nature trails and parks that the west of Ireland and beyond has to offer.

Here is a lovely message of thanks we received from Ríona’s mother thanking us for daughter’s wonderful new trike which now opens up so many opportunities to explore for the family. On behalf of all of us here at Variety Ireland, Bernard O’Regan and all the ministers involved in supporting our Recycle Mobility Programme, many happy years of cycling Ríona!

“Dear Variety Ireland Team,

 On behalf of my daughter Ríona, I would like to thank Variety Ireland, Bernard O’Regan from the HSE, Ministers Anne Rabbitte, Eamon Ryan and Jack Chambers and all at The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and Department of Transport for her new special mobility trike. Her new trike now means she can experience cycling from a very young age which already is contributing to her own mental and physical wellbeing.

I never thought something as simple as a trike could provide so many benefits for my daughter. Your Recycle Mobility Programme is a real game changer for families who simply don’t have the full funds to go out and purchase one of these trikes. Thanks to all of your support, you really are making sure children regardless of their disability can be included in cycling activities with friends and family members. It’s simply brilliant and thank you so much. Your help has already started to make a huge difference to our lives.

Kind regards,”

Karen (Ríona’s mother)