Alison Byrnes (Cunningham, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On the last Saturday of each month, the Disability Trust hosts CycleAbility. Last month, the state member for Wollongong and I were lucky enough to attend and have a ride with participants. It was our very first ride on an electric bike. The Saturday morning CycleAbility program teaches participants bike riding and safety skills, road awareness, road rules, bike maintenance and how to be active and healthy.

The CycleAbility program was created in 2021 when the chief operating officer, Ed Birt, raised start-up funds by riding his bike from the coast of Western Australia to Sydney. The program supports people with disability to learn how to ride bikes and to enjoy all the benefits and joy of cycling. Riding a bike may be taken for granted by some, but for some others it can be an empowering experience, supporting independence, fitness and social inclusion.

Like any community program, there is a large team behind its success, and I would like to thank the following staff, volunteers and participants for their contributions: Carol Berry, Matt McMaugh, Carol Heijo, Ben Mayhew, Brad Heffernan, Helen Bugg, Fred Day, Clare Berry, Oliver Garbutt, Bodhi Dreyfus Ballesi, Mitchell Kober, Benjamin Manzin, Stephen Garvan, Benjamin Biehl, Michael Norris, Mel Norris and, of course, Ed Birt. I'd also like to give a massive thankyou to the sponsors: Illawarra Cycling Club, iBUG, Wollongong City Council, Destination Wollongong and Healthy Cities Illawarra.