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The 23rd edition of the Leeds Sports Awards will take place on Thursday 14th May at The Carriageworks in Leeds City Centre. The awards are a celebration of the outstanding individuals, clubs and organisations that make sport in our city so special. Clarrie Ramsden has been reflecting on being shortlisted for an award, and her time developing the Seacroft Cycles Active Travel Hub.
Transcript
00:00Hi, I'm Clary. I'm Chief of Everything at Seacroft Cycles, which is a community-led
00:06project and an official active travel hub now funded by WICA, which is brilliant.
00:13And we're here to get people out off the surfers, onto the bikes and out cycling.
00:18So I cannot wait to get back on my bike. I've just had a new knee installed,
00:23so I'm a bit like the bionic woman, except my hair's not quite as flicky as hers,
00:27for those of you old enough to remember it. I was working as a community development worker,
00:33or a shenanigator, as I prefer to call it, for Climate Action Seacroft and also for the LS14
00:40Trust. And I had a dream to try and get a few more people cycling. So we literally started with
00:45a few
00:46bikes where we could offer a few people lessons on a Saturday morning to get them cycling. And then
00:53it went on from there, really. My lovely husband, Mark in the red shirt, was asked to come and help
00:59volunteer with their motorbike project, which unfortunately didn't get off the ground. But
01:03what did get off the ground was working with our community, doing some bicycle maintenance.
01:09Now we're open three mornings a week. We have people coming for lessons. We have a Sunday easy ride.
01:16We have people coming learning to fix bikes, all sorts of stuff. Lots of tea drinking goes on,
01:21because we're putting the tea into the community. It's not just about Lycra. It's not about getting
01:26on your bike and riding a million miles. It's doing what you can do, even if it's literally
01:31up and down the road. And that's all you can manage. That's fine at the moment because of my knee.
01:36I've
01:36not been able to cycle for 18 months. So I'm really excited about getting back on my bike with people,
01:43helping people learn to ride more. I'm absolutely thrilled and delighted and humbled and honoured
01:50to be nominated for this award. Because as I say, it's not about cycling. It's about people.
01:56It's about connecting people with their ability to get on and do stuff. I mean, look at me. I'm
02:03partially sighted. At the moment, I can't even walk well, let alone cycle. My lungs don't work
02:08properly. But if I can do it, what's stopping you? You can do it too. That's what it's about. It's
02:13about what you can do and enabling people to get on and do stuff. So to be nominated for this
02:17award,
02:19honestly, I can't tell you, I'm so absolutely delighted and thrilled. Mark is now a fully
02:24qualified mechanic. Chalk is a fully qualified mechanic. We managed to get them off and get
02:28them some training done through some funding we managed to get. We've got other people come and
02:33done some training. So it's really community focused. It is sustainable. It's really fulfilling
02:39a need within the community to get people on a bike. It gives you freedom. You can get on a
02:44bike.
02:44You can go where you want, when you want and just have a great time. You don't need to wait
02:49for a lift.
02:49You don't need to wait for a bus. And it's actually a lot safer, a lot easier and a lot
02:54quicker than you'd
02:54think. Get on your bike and ride.
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