Cycling Without Age cargo bike effort to move the elderly this Christmas

Specially adapted cargo bikes are hitting the streets of London’s Rortherhithe community in the run up to Christmas, helping the elderly stay mobile with lifts around the community. 

Dubbed Cycling Without Age, Time & Talents and Cargobike Life CIC are running the scheme with funding help from the Unites St Saviours Charity. The scheme, it is hoped, will not only help tackle isolation often felt by the elderly, but also build links in the community.

The service is the creation of Ole Kassow who began offering free rides on adapted cargo bikes to residents of his local nursing home in Copenhagen. Kassow went on to launch Cycling Without Age following a collaboration with Dorthe Pedersen, a civil society consultant. Across Europe a network of 6,000 volunteer pilots now moves the elderly from A to B for social and utility trips.

“Nothing beats witnessing the joy of the elderly, pilots and nursing home staff interact on and around the trishaw and seeing the smiles of passengers coming back from their first ride with wind in their hair, rosy cheeks and full of stories.”

For more information on how to get started in your area, contact Cycling Without Age or Cargobike Life CIC. Volunteer pilots are now sought in the UK.