Help fulfil Roger's Birthday wish.

What does Roger do?

He's a full-time carer for our Mum and volunteers with various groups enabling people to enjoy the outdoors on bikes and trikes either cycling themselves or as passengers.

What does Roger want?

Roger is on a mission to get more people cycling and has watched the use of bikes and the development of cycling infrastructure in Holland with envy. He also dreams about owning the trike modelled by my mum in the header picture (on the right)

He wants to do a course on Bikenomics. The course he wants to do is really aimed at council workers and road engineers who work in the field of traffic and mobility. It will be quite a challenge for him but he is determined that, with up-to-date knowledge, he will be able to campaign from an informed level and thereby get the respect and attention of the local road engineers.

The course will be good but, in my opinion, it isn’t a real birthday present….luckily the course isn’t all Roger wants, he also has a dream, read on for the full story.

Roger (my brother) came to me a few months ago with a request for money rather than presents for his birthday. This is a fairly ordinary request if you are saving for something bigger for yourself but when I heard what he wanted it for it felt as if it wasn't really a birthday present at all!

He wants to do a course on Bikenomics, this isn’t something that will benefit him directly but he wants to be able to work with the local council and cycle groups in advancing the use of cycles in the local area. When he told me this, I looked up the course and noted it will be quite a slog for him. Anyone who knows Roger will also know that if he is determined to do something he will not let his disabilities get in the way. The company running the course is based in Holland, and they are happy for him to have support during the sessions, they will give him recordings of the sessions and he will be armed with material to go forward and educate those who want to know more and those he feels should get to know more.

My initial thought about the course was that the council should be paying him to do it but after a few enquiries, this obviously wasn’t going to happen.

I have therefore decided to open this fundraising request to you our friends, family and any other interested parties. I have also decided to try and open the brief a little. The course is £500 but I think we can do better.

Roger has a dream of owning a very specialised trike so he can demonstrate to others the benefits of cycling for all in the community. He currently uses a trike owned by a charity to take patients who may benefit from the company and fresh air out and about on Hayling Island. It works well but he wants to do more and has restricted access to the trike. I would like to enable him to purchase a trike for himself so he can help more people. The trike he wants is like the one above modelled by my mother, it is a rickshaw bike called ‘Chat’ and is designed for 2 people to ride together and chat. It enables children or adults who are no longer able to participate in traffic on their own to enjoy the wind in the air and the interest the trike attracts as well as the company of being together experiencing the world from a snug armchair on the road.

Although Roger would never advertise it cycling has been the very thing that has helped him live a better life. He has various medical issues that could easily have had him in a wheelchair years ago. With this trike he can continue his voluntary work supporting others whilst keeping himself healthy, win-win. With the course he can understand more about the problems that road engineers face in creating a better cycling environment and speak to them on their level.

If we manage to raise the full amount it will cover the cost of the trike and the course but, as every little helps, if we even get close to the total I will try and top it up as I know the trike is something that will be a dream come true. Getting the trike is not only Rogers's dream but he will use it to enhance a lot of people's lives as he pedals them around Hayling or Southsea for the local GP practice, charity groups and anyone else that needs to be perked up!

This is Roger on our existing trike, it will still be used but the new one allows 2 passengers to sit and chat as they enjoy an outing....and it is battery assisted for those days when the wind is against him.