A new service is about to get off the ground in High River that will see seniors in the community being toured around in a trishaw.

Cycling Without Age is a movement that uses a trishaw, a bike with a front panel for two passengers, so seniors can enjoy being outdoors.

Jody Seeley with Our High River says the program started with Ole Kassow in Copenhagen.

"Ole wanted to help the elderly in his community get back on their bicycles and he was looking for a solution for their limited mobility," said Seeley. "He came up with the trishaw and he started offering free bike rides to local nursing homes residents and from that he turned it into a Cycling Without Age Movement that went across the world. It is in about 30 other countries."

Cycling Without Age representative Maren Warming from Copenhagen was doing a tour of Canadian cities so she stopped in High River and talked to residents about the joy the program brings to seniors.

It was a packed houe for the speech and Seeley said it was a good starting point for lining up volunteers.

"If you have been on a bike in town recently there's kind of not a moment where your peddling around where you don't feel pure love of the community, it feels so great," said Seeley.

"So to be able to offer that to people who wouldn't be able to get that chance to have the wind on their face and in their hair and be able to tour around. There might be quite a few residents who haven't been able to  see the changes that have happened over the last few years as well."

To volunteer email Our High River at community@highriver.ca or call 403-603-3447.

The trishaws will be in High River by the end of the summer and they hope to have the program up and running soon after.

 

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