UK Programme Manager, Felix Young, shares a report from his visits to two of the MS Society support groups that our riders’ fundraising goes towards.
I was fortunate to have the opportunity to meet two of the MS Society support groups close to where I live last week at their monthly social events. These events are an integral part of what these volunteer-led groups do to ensure that their members can access social occasions that are appropriate to their needs.
First up was the Cheltenham, Gloucester & Forest of Dean group in Yorkley. This is one of the groups that the riders on our Land’s End to John O’ Groats trip meet each year as they ride across the UK. In the spirit of our January #move4ms challenge, I decided to travel by train and bike meaning that I could use the ride up from the train station to add some kilometres to the team total. This meant I arrived a little flustered – forgetting that the ride up to Yorkley is all uphill and perhaps over-estimating my climbing abilities with the time allowed!
It is always a treat to see some familiar faces as well as having the opportunity to meet new members of the group. After sharing some of Bike the UK for MS’s story so far it was exciting to introduce some of our 2024 projects to the group including #move4ms, our MS Awareness Week Challenge and the summer trips that riders will be taking on all across the UK plus the personal challenge that I am planning to undertake in the Spring (watch this space!).
This led to tales of midges and ticks (I am not sure why my stories kept on coming back to bugs just before the cake was served up?!) as well as some of the stories from my summer at the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships – taking place not long after I had last met the group in July. It wasn’t just me talking though (as can sometimes happen…), chatting with the members of the MS Society groups has been the main place where I have learned more about what it means to live with MS. As someone who did not have a personal connection to MS before I rode with Bike the UK for MS, it can be hard to truly understand:
“There are things I would like to join in with but MS stops me. I love gardening for example and my partner helps me and there is a local gardening group; they organise things like a walk in the woods to see the daffodils emerge. I won’t be able to join in with things like that and so I miss out.”
“I would love to join an art club. We were making wreaths and everyone was picking out what they wanted to put in theirs – I can’t hold things because of my MS though and so I didn’t know what to do. You don’t want to keep asking people to do things for you.”
A reminder that Bike the UK for MS is all about using the power of the bike to make a difference to those living with MS.
The following day I was able to take the short bike ride over the hill to Cumberwell Park Golf Club to meet up with the Bath & District group of the MS Society to join them for their Christmas celebration meal. This group was the first one that Bike the UK for MS supported back in 2014 and on a personal level was my first time meeting a local support group of the MS Society.
Members such as David and Julie have been members of the group since back then 10 years ago and it is always such a pleasure to re-acquaint myself and hear the stories that they have ready to tell. Despite all the challenges that living with MS had created for them it is so humbling to feel their determination and desire to overcome the day-to-day effects of the condition.
It is also particularly pertinent to spend time with the family who provide the support that they need every day of their lives. These social events are just as important for them as for the members who are living with MS. There are 130,000 people living with MS in the UK but the affect it has on people’s lives reaches much further to those around them and it can be easy to underestimate this impact until you get to know people such as the wonderful members of the local support groups.
The Bath & District group has a minibus that can carry up to three people using wheelchairs and the group are now fortunate to have a number of volunteer drivers who are able to help ensure that the group’s events are truly inclusive:
“It is so important. It can carry up to three people who otherwise would not be able to join in with what we do. It ensures that what we do is inclusive to everyone.”
The minibus does not come without its costs of course and there are a number of MS Society groups that I have met through my time with Bike the UK for MS that are not in a position where they can offer transport support in such a way. This can be particularly felt in rural locations such as north Wales or the Highlands of Scotland (places that Bike the UK for MS trips go to and so groups that our riders meet each year) where a single group may cover a vast area with limited transport options available.
The work that groups such as these would be utterly transformed if they had the financial support to be able to offer what the Bath & District group are able to do so with their minibus. We hope that with more fundraising and more awareness of the vital role that these volunteer groups carry out it will soon be possible for more people to access social events like to ones that I was lucky enough to be able to join – making a real difference to their quality of life whilst living with MS.
