Video: Cycling for seniors joy in the South Okanagan
“It’s a smooth and easy option to a large problem we have in our society today. There are such a lot of those who are lonely, elderly folks who are caught interior now not capable of go out and use their senses,” stated Kassow, 52, who turned into in Penticton Sunday to assist the nearby Cycling Without Age chapter as part of a North American excursion. “It’s additionally about simply connecting to the local community and simply breaking freed from that loneliness, so many human beings are socially remoted, and that is just an awesome manner of breaking that isolation.”
According to Kassow, while it is mainly seniors in care homes who get free rides, there are others who advantage as nicely. Now running in over 40 countries worldwide, Cycling Without Age chapters use three-wheel, electric-help trishaws capable of transporting two people in the front seats. The Penticton chapter changed into fashioned overdue last year with the aid of Neil Pritchard and is subsidized in component by way of Cowork Penticton below the auspices of One Sky Community Resources. Pritchard presently has one trishaw in the region with any other believed to be in transit, and ultimately his 3-year plan is to have a fleet of 4 and as many as 20 volunteers.
“Even younger human beings in this point in time, just the manner we’ve prepared our society there are so many humans of every age who’re without a doubt lonely, and network is each an amazing manner to increase first-class of existence and in fact, for people to live happier and longer lives as nicely,” he stated. Part of this system delivered on Sunday concerned the training of the volunteer “pilots,” individuals who could be on the controls of the trishaws. One of those people become Glen Sasyniuk.
“I was given worried approximately or 3 months in the past after I heard about Cycling Without Age via One Sky — I‘ve been a volunteer for approximately a yr and a bit with One Sky,” said Sasyniuk even as awaiting his very last education rides. “Being a cyclist and volunteering with Alex Merckx’s trip in Penticton, I idea this became a natural factor.” According to Kassow, the enterprise’s mandate is actually: “We dream of creating a world together, in which they get right of entry to lively citizenship creates happiness among our fellow elderly residents by using imparting them with an opportunity to stay a lively part of society and the local community. “That way, we construct bridges among generations, and we beef up trust, recognize.”
