Senior Support Services-CPHC (SSS-CPHC) joined Cycling Without Age (CWA), an international organization, in November 2019.   CWA is a social enterprise based in Copenhagen, Denmark and founded in 2012 by Ole Kassow.  Since 2015, there are now 50 countries around the world who have joined CWA with over 1,500 CWA Chapters worldwide.  CWA offers recreational mobility to seniors through ‘piloted’ trishaw rides, enabling seniors to experience the movement, enjoy the outdoors with the wind in their hair, and have great conversation with their pilot.

SSS-CPHC pursued a local Trishaw program in partnership with CWA-Brockville in early 2018.  Working together with a Trishaw Committee, we were pleased to raise enough money through fundraising initiatives and events to purchase two (2) Trishaw cycles.  Although the Trishaws were donated to our Adult Day Program, we were pleased to extend the offer for Trishaw rides to residents living in retirement and nursing homes.  Early in the Trishaw program it became clear that is was complementary to our existing programs/services and aligned well with our mandate.  As such, we decided to pursue our own local CWA Chapter and received our designation in November 2019.

We are excited to have launch our ‘Travelling Trishaw Tours’ program in the summer of 2020.  With the help of our summer students scheduling rides and piloting the Trishaws, we have been providing scenic tours along the beautiful St. Lawrence River and other scenic trails within the City of Brockville as well as in Prescott, Gananoque and Athens.  The  tours have been well received by the participants (seniors and individuals of any age who have cognitive or physical barriers).  Some have even returned for a second and third tour.

It is most rewarding to see the benefits to our passengers and the joy on their faces after a tour of socializing and reminiscing with our pilots.   Our pilots often stop along the way for passengers to have conversations with their acquaintances who are are out walking the trails.  This is most important to us, and even more so after the past several months that we have all spent in isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic.   We are very committed to ensuring the safety of our passengers and our riders; therefore our Trishaws are equipped with disposable masks, hand sanitizer, and the cycles are disinfected between each tour to prevent the spread or exposure to potential viruses.  The Trishaws are also equipped with bottled water to get our passengers and pilots through their tour on the warmer days.

To schedule your Trishaw tour, please contact 613-342-3693 or 1-800-465-7646