If you missed the Cluzion gig this weekend you missed a real treat. Tiger Blue played a soulful set and looked like they could have kept going all night! Singer Meg impressed all with her beautiful voice, not too mention peacock feathers in her hair. This week there was also a support act giving their first performance! Both bands played a mix of classic covers with a sprinkling of their own compositions.

Cluzion music nights are run by Tony Phillips, with an ethos of encouraging anyone and everyone to enjoy and appreciate music. Tony is great at bringing people in to the sessions and creating a sense of community. Come along to the next one to see if you like the vibe! For full details, check out the Cluzion website.

I’m pretty excited because at the StartChange event a couple of weeks ago Lauren Croll of social enterprise incubator UnLtd was talking about some of their recent projects and mentioned FESTAXI. FESTAXI uses golf buggies to help festival goers get around festival sites. The story of its start up, however, is inspirational; the founder tried to go to Glastonbury with a disabled friend and had to give up because it just wasn’t possible to get around. I can’t find any information about this story on the FESTAXI website, so I can’t verify it, but I think it’s a great idea!

From Lauren’s description, it seems that FESTAXI charges people without mobility problems to use the buggies, and this means that people with mobility problems can use them for free. It would be great to see more of this story on the FESTAXI website!

http://youtu.be/tZz09bquJ4I

Confused by social media and wondering what this Twitter thing is all about? Well be confused no more – The You Can Hub has a new workshop for people who are wondering how to use Twitter to support their project, organisation or enterprise.

Because  we’re looking for your feedback on the session, we’re offering a special discount which gives 75% off! Use the code YouCanDiscount on our booking page where you will find full details. The workshop will be really practical and you will learn key terms and skills while also trying them out – on your own account if you want to! This workshop is particularly exciting because we’ve teamed up with Steve Bomford, of NebMedia, to inspire us with an overview of different ways individuals and organisations have used Twitter to support their work and achieve amazing results. Steve has over 10,000 followers on Twitter so it will be a fantastic opportunity to hear from him as well as having the opportunity to get feedback from him through Twitter as you start to tweet during the workshop.

So what are you waiting for? Book now or get in touch with any questions!

One of our steering group members, Aaran Hedges, is continuing to get people excited about You Can Bike Too, our all ability bike project! He is star of the show for an article in the Business section of the Cambridge News. Aaran is working with Ruth, another member of our steering group and also a keen cyclist, to take the steps necessary to get this project off the ground, along with other members of the project team, who are all volunteers.

Ruth and Aaran are hoping that the project will continue to gather pace. “I feel like it’s the beginning of changing people’s perceptions,” says Ruth. “To bring people together on bikes is a really exciting initiative. I feel passionate about inclusion and bikes are for everyone – bring on the fun!” Ruth and Aaran are bringing lots of different people together who are interested in finding out more about the project. The aim of the meeting is to find people who are interested in becoming stakeholders, who can see the benefits to the community and can advocate for the project in the right places. This is really important as the team continue to seek funding.

There are lots of different bikes for people to try – whether you have a disability or health condition, or you just want to try something different! The project that originally inspired Ruth and Aaran is called Pedal Power, and is based at Finsbury Park in London. It has lots of different types of bikes for people to try. A recent event in Cambridge at the Science Park organised by Travel Plan Plus also had some weird and wonderful options!

Lots of interest in You Can Bike Too at Milton Country Park

Volunteers from You Can Bike Too were at the Milton Country Park Park Life event on 24th June. Ruth and Angela went along to tell people a bit more about You Can Bike Too. Lots of people wanted to know more and get involved, and Angela and Ruth also got to make some new links with South Cambridgeshire District Council. All fantastic steps in getting this fabulous project off the ground!

You Can Bike Too has a group of people with disabilities who are interested in being the project team – completing all the research and work necessary to develop and deliver the project.  The group will develop communication skills, confidence and the ability to work in a team.

If you are interested in getting involved in You Can Bike Too, get in touch! You might be someone who is keen to have a go at cycling, and you might be interested in supporting us in other ways! You can

suppo

Angela and Ruth with all the info on You Can Bike Too!

rt us by:

– offering to volunteer

– fundraising on our behalf

– donating money

You can get in touch through our contact us page.

You can also follow us on Twitter to keep updated with our progress!

The first meeting of people interested in becoming the You Can Bike Too project team!

From today you can support one of our projects by visiting our local Waitrose store in Trumpington, Cambridge. You Can Bike Too is very pleased to be selected for the Waitrose Community Matters Scheme – which means that you can use the green token you get when you shop to vote for our project. At the end of the month, we’ll get a share of £1000 based on how many tokens we have. So what are you waiting for! We’re particularly pleased to be benefitting from this scheme because this store also offers cycle trailers for customers to loan for free to get their shopping home – in the true spirit of You Can Bike Too!