Tour de Shropshire for wheelchair bike
A keen cyclist is touring the four corners of the county today, all to raise money to buy a wheelchair tandem for a town day centre.
Ray Hughes will be setting out from his home in Easthope, near Much Wenlock and cycling 168 miles, taking in Cleobury Mortimer, Ludlow, Shrewsbury, Oswestry, Ellesmere, Whitchurch, Market Drayton, Telford and finishing in Bridgnorth.
Ray, 57, a road safety officer with Shropshire Council contractors Mouchel, is also a member of Cycling4All, a community group looking to improve inclusive cycling opportunities across the county, through which he met people at Shrewsbury's Abbots Wood Day Centre.
The centre wants to improve access to cycling for their service users, he said.
"It's in aid of a new special kind of bike for Abbots Wood Day Centre in Monkmoor called a 'loader'," Ray said.
"I’m cycling around Shropshire in a single day to hopefully raise at least £500 which will make a significant contribution to the fund and make the dream of a loader that bit closer.
"This will enable wheelchair bound users to enjoy a fun ride around their site and join in with their more able bodied service users in the indoor and outdoor cycling activities.
"No one attending the centre would ever be excluded from accessing a happy cycling experience."
He said he already had £280 and at least another £100 expected to come in form colleagues at work.
He hopes to be stopping at the Abbots Wood Day Centre as part of his tour at about 11am, and will cycle a few laps at the centre with service users there.
To donate to Ray's cause visit www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ray-hughes-loader
