Age-friendly Streets Project Plan

At the beginning of 2016, the Age-friendly Manchester Older People Board were discussing a draft of the Age-friendly Manchester Team Action Plan for 2016 – 2017.

As part of this discussion, the idea of an Age-friendly street came up.  In particular, the Board were interested to see if a participatory project could be established to test out what this concept may be. It was agreed that the Age-friendly Manchester Team would explore this further, talk to possible partners and develop a piece of work across 2016. It was also agreed that an initial focus could be on Whalley Range

Read the full project brief here:  age-friendly-streets-project-plan-2

Whalley Range on Wheels shares Cycling UK Best Community Project award!

whalley_range_on_wheels_and_onna_bike_with_caroline_russell

Community cycling groups Onna high after sharing award!

The quality of entries for our Best Community Project award was so high that it ended up being shared between two extremely worthy and hard-working groups – Whalley Range on Wheels and Onna Bike. Both are Cycling UK Community Clubs, both have been heavily involved in our Big Bike Revival – and both have been helping people to cycle, with fantastic benefits to their respective communities.

Whalley Range on Wheels

Whalley Range on Wheels comprises a band of committed volunteers who have worked tirelessly over the last 18 months to make Alexandra Park in South Manchester a real hive of cycling activity.

Project co-ordinator Eve Holt has made it possible for hundreds of people to get on their bikes, with regular activities and events for the whole family, including adults learning to ride for the first time, improver sessions for rusty returners, road training, bike maintenance workshops and social rides.

Cycling UK Trustee Welna Bowden, Chair of the Awards Committee, said: “People attend the sessions come rain or shine and the atmosphere is always positive and welcoming.

“A small group of volunteer mechanics has helped bring donated bikes back to life so that some participants now have their own bike.

“The project has grown through word of mouth and with there being a physical presence in the park. It an excellent example of fluid working across organisations with volunteers working alongside Transport for Greater Manchester and Manchester Parks services.

“Whalley Range on Wheels is exactly the sort of project that can make a real difference.”

Project co-ordinator Eve said: “The appetite from local people has been wonderful.  People of all ages and backgrounds come to the sessions and both participants and volunteers alike talk about the impact it has on their wellbeing and lives.

“Thanks to the Big Bike Revival, we have been able to revive 40 second-hand bikes over the summer, some from out of skips, and give them to Manchester asylum seekers who have been attending our regular Monday sessions so they can #ridefree.

“We are all looking forward to a celebratory ride along the Fallowfield loop on 17 October followed by a Spooky kidicalmass ride for families on 30 October. Happy bikes make for happy people and a happy planet.”

Onna Bike

Onna Bike offers free weekly sessions for the local community in Bradford, with the aim of teaching people to ride and improve skills. The club has developed strong links with Belle Vue Girls School and facilitated a project which has resulted in 180 girls undertaking cycle training and reaching Bikeability Levels 1 and 2.

The project enabled 90 girls – at two events – to participate in cycling activities which included Bikeability training, bike maintenance, making smoothies (using a bike to power the motor) and also having a go on cycling rollers provided by the Cycling UK-affiliated Otley Cycle Club.

The project was made possible through funding from Cycling UK, the support of WYCA City Connect and collaboration with a number of organisations, including Zara Sports Centre and Bradford Council Bikeability Scheme co-ordinated by Aubrey Cooper.

Welna said: “The pilot was hugely successful, creating a buzz of excitement and resulting in the project being rolled out across all the remaining 800-plus students at the school.

“Onna Bike also established links with OnTrak, receiving 20 refurbished bikes, and was able to donate the bikes at no cost to the girls attending the cycling project.

“That was particularly important given that a vast number of students are unable to buy or access a bike, as they live in a socially deprived area where finances are strained.

“Although the club is in its infancy, it has made a promising start to what should be an amazing journey of discovery and adventure.”

Onna Bike, founded by Mumtaz Khan, runs weekly cycling sessions with fellow cycling coach Andrew Gray, at Zara Sports Centre, next to Belle Vue Girls School, on Saturdays from 6.00-7.15pm, followed by a ride for more confident cyclists.

Mumtaz said: “Cycling is becoming very popular in Bradford and for people just starting out, or for those who enjoy cycling at a more leisurely pace, mainstream cycling clubs can seem quite daunting. Onna Bike offers an alternative which appeals to novice and intermediate riders.”

The Belle Vue girls also attended an informative and humorous presentation by round-the-world cyclist Reece Gledhill. They were then given the task of developing their own expedition, focusing on the countries that they would like to visit – with Dubai, Jamaica, Japan and Australia coming out as hot favourites.

Samantha Crabtree, a member of the Belle Vue Girls School staff, commented: “All of our Year 10 girls have now completed the Level 1 Bikeability Award and the majority the Level 2 Award. The girls have thoroughly enjoyed the experience and with the help of the professional instructors have developed better and safer cycling habits.

“Some of the girls had never ridden a bike before and many do not have the opportunity to cycle, but the course has made them more comfortable and confident in the saddle.

“The opportunity for some of them to then take away a bike at the end of the course has been a great incentive and will hopefully encourage more girls to cycle to school or in their free time.

“Cycling is a great way for the girls to get around, get some exercise and reduce the amount of time spent stuck in a car or on the bus and socialise with their friends.”

Belle Vue Headteacher Mary Copeland said: “It has been a great opportunity for one year to take part in this project – not only learning a skill for now and the future, but also exploring sustainability and environmental issues important to today society.”

Whalley Range on Wheels and Onna Bike received their awards at the Cycling UK Members Get Together in Manchester on Saturday (8 October). Making the presentation was transport campaigner Caroline Russell, London Assembly Member and national transport spokesperson for the Green Party of England and Wales.

Tony Upfold

Manchester Community Cycle Group in Alexandra Park

Whalley Range on Wheels comprises a band of committed volunteers who are working tirelessly to make Alexandra Park in South Manchester a real hive of cycling activity.

Over the last two years the group has engaged with over three thousand local residents helping more people to experience the joy, independence and wellbeing a bike can bring.

For adults

Regular activities take place every Monday in the park with learn to ride sessions, road training, improver sessions for rusty returners and social rides taking place 9.30-11.30 and 12-2.00pm,  supported by instructors from Transport for Greater Manchester.  Volunteer mechanics are also on hand to help keep the fleet in good working order and help people to get their bikes fixed and to learn basics of good bike maintenance. Monthly Women in the Workshop bike maintenance training, for both beginners and improvers, run throughout the year on Saturday afternoons.

For kids

Kid cycling sessions after school on a Monday between 3.30pm and 5pm have proved very popular so the club is looking for ways to run more in partnership with  the PushPedalScoot project run by BikeRight! Futures CIC.

For the whole family

Throughout the year the group organises cycling themed events for the whole family often in collaboration with other local groups.  Through a series of Big Bike Revival events, supported by Cycling UK, held across Moss Side, Hulme and Whalley Range, more than 200 bikes were revived.  Many had been gathering dust in people sheds and back gardens.   In conjunction with Manchester City of Sanctuary they also helped 50 asylum seekers to get riding and to then #ridefree by fixing up  2nd hand bikes donated from the police, general public and retrieved from skips.

For Halloween,  the group supported a spooky kidical mass ride from the park along the Fallowfield loop.  50 people of all ages participated.  Further events are planned for the winter period including a light your bike up like a xmas tree ride on 17 December.

Project co-ordinator, Eve Holt, a resident in Whalley Range, cycling instructor and campaigner, is clear that everyone is welcome.  “People attend the sessions come rain or shine and the atmosphere is always positive and welcoming.  The appetite from local people has been wonderful.  People of all ages and backgrounds come to the sessions and both participants and volunteers alike talk about the impact it has on their wellbeing and lives.  Happy bikes make for happy people and a happy planet. ”

Whalley Range on Wheels recently received an award from Cycling UK in recognition of their work.

More info:

Regular sessions in Alexandra Park are free and are run as an open drop in.  No booking needed.  All equipment provided.  We meet in the car park off Russell Street, M16 7JL (behind tennis courts) at 9.30am and 12 midday.  Kids sessions then start at 3.30pm and 4.15pm (all children must be supervised).  For details of other events, workshops and activities coming up see Facebook page or Whalley Range on Wheels.  Donations of bikes, equipment, money, skills and time always appreciated. Project co-ordinator can be contacted at eve@happencic.org or 07812 157761

Street Design for Age Friendly Neighbourhoods

Street Design for Age Friendly Neighbourhoods

Author: Wendy Cocks Acknowledgements: Thank you to members of Manchester Age Friendly Design Group for their helpful suggestions for additional references and to Newcastle University for their photograph of the Age Friendly seating they developed with Newcastle Elders.

For older activists, local authority councillors and officers interested in how their street looks or those involved in
redesigning or redeveloping streets in their community.

http://careandrepair-england.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Age-Friendly-Street-Design-Sept-2016.pdf

 

Celebrate Festival update: Age-friendly marquee report

The Whalley Range Community Forum, MICRA, Manchester University and Age-friendly Whalley Range/Chorlton provided lots of information, activities, refreshments, arts and crafts and entertainment at this year Celebrate Festival on July 16th 2016 at Manley Park.

Read the Report here: age-friendly-marquee-celebrate-report

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New free telephone number from Electricity North West

105

From Monday 6 September Electricity North West (ENW) have launched a new telephone number (105) for customers to call should they need to report or get information about a power cut in their area.

 

105 is a free service and you can call the number from most landlines and mobile phones.
A consumer awareness campaign will run from September through to next spring and will include PR, media advertising, social media and coordinated messaging through partner channels.

Attached is a slide deck with more details about this valuable new service.

Key points to note about this service are:
Dialling 105 will put customers through to their local electricity network operator – the company that manages the cables, power lines and substations that deliver electricity into homes and businesses in their area
105 is just one of the ways that customers can contact their electricity network operator. They can also contact them by phone or via their website, and most network operators are on social media too
105 is a free service for people in England, Scotland and Wales
Customers can call 105 no matter who they choose to buy electricity from
Customers can also call 105 if they spot damage to electricity power lines and substations that could put anyone in danger. If there’s a serious immediate risk, they should call the emergency services too.

Tai Chi (Taiji) and Qigong for Beginners: all adults welcome.

 

Thursdays at 1:30-2:30pm @ JNR8 Youth & Community Centre

82 Cromwell Avenue, M16 0BG

(Back of Manley Park Church)

Taiji has been developed by the Chinese as a complete system for promoting mental health and physical health.

It consists of a series of choreographed slow relaxed movements called the form.

It is suitable for people of all ages and physical abilities and requires no special equipment; and can be performed in a small area.

Tai chi is often described as “meditation in motion,” but it might well be called “medication in motion.” There is growing evidence that this mind-body practice has value in treating or preventing many health problems.

This gentle form of exercise can help maintain strength, flexibility, and balance, and could be the perfect activity for the rest of your life.   Harvard Medical School.

 

Call Chris on 0161 881 3744 for more details.

www.whalleyrange.org

South Manchester Men in Sheds next meeting 13th September, Merseybank

Image result for mens sheds manchester

South Manchester Men in Sheds next meeting 13th Sept, Merseybank

Our next event is on Tues 13/9 at 10.30 am at our “shed”, a former shop unit at 38 Merseybank Parade, Chorlton M21 7NN.
Come and see how it can be used and how you can be involved.
What is a Men Shed?
ï‚· hands-on activities for (mainly) men aged 50+
ï‚· space (bigger than an actual shed!) to meet, socialise, learn and share skills
ï‚· you choose what you do: your own work or community projects
ï‚· typically involves making, mending or renovating but can include tool renovation, upholstery, metalworking, bike repair, gardening etc.
ï‚· Reclamation, reuse and restoration feature strongly

ï‚· The UK now has over 100 Men Sheds – More information at http://menssheds.org.uk/

More info rogerbysouth@gmail.com