Nils Amelinckx launches Rider Resilience non-profit
Well-known face of the UK bicycle industry Nils Amelinckx has today announced the launch of Rider Resilience CIC.
Set up as a not-for-profit community interest company, the venture has come to fruition through what Nils describes as “the strength and camaraderie of the bicycle community yet with aims to inspire people from all walks of life to turn to the bike during times of hardship.”
For background, Nils, aged 30, was diagnosed with incurable bowel cancer and told he had no more than five years left to live. Now, at just over five years into his turbulent journey, Nils has amassed seven rounds of surgery, five rounds of radiotherapy and 60+ cycles of chemotherapy but is adamant that of all things, the bicycle has provided some of the most noticeable healing powers and that he would not be here now without it.
Having gradually regained some stamina, to the point where riding has became one of the few actions that giving some sense of normality, Nils says that every time he gets out on two wheels, he is able to temporarily escape from the ominous clouds overhead, as the mind is too preoccupied with the trail or route ahead.
Using that feeling as fuel, Nils sets up Rider Resilience with two aims: One is to foster resilience in people through inspirational storytelling of where the bike has allowed someone to ride through times of hardship. The second aim is to raise funds to allow the non-profit to in turn pledge financial support to projects with a similar ethos, acting as a springboard to get more people on bikes and to experience first hand the simple joy of riding.
Contributors’ stories, spanning the full breadth of adversity, will be shared primarily through regular YouTube and podcast player episodes, but also through stills and short-form blog posts on the Rider Resilience homepage.
A larger, documentary style film that focuses on the bike as a tool to heal is also in the pipeline drawing on the collaborative creative vision of Aspect Media and Steel City Media, scheduled for release spring 2023.
Funding, on the other hand, will be generated through the sale of merchandise, donations, community fundraising and corporate partnerships.
Nils adds: “By Friday 28th October we should have merchandise available to buy. Our first “Ride It Out” episode is live on our new YouTube channel with none other than Martyn Ashton and the website is a lot more detailed covering funding pathways and ways in which people can help.”
To find out more, head over to
www.instagram.com/riderresilience
https://youtube.com/channel/UCSfakhF1PLs4ECcf5zC8ugQ
Nils is best known in the bike world as the driving force of the cycle arm of Lyon Equipment up until 2021.
