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Wheels for Tenacious: A Mixed-Ability Cycling Adventure

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Three of us from the team had an early start (7am) on a cold morning to cycle from Cardiff to Barry.

David Bainbridge and Graham Strudwick cycling towards the camera early in the morningWe got there before 9am and the rest of the team gathered while ITV Wales interviewed David and Graham.

Just after 11am nine of the ten set off by some form of cycle with Ruth driving her camper van as support vehicle.

The Wheels for Tenacious team paused by Barry Docks with tall ship Lord Nelson in the backgroundWe stopped briefly for a photo with Lord Nelson in the background, before heading to the Cardiff barrage for a pit stop. Here we were joined by another cyclist taking us up to 10.

The Wheels for Tenacious team paused at Cardiff BarrageThe rest of day one was through Cardiff and the eastern suburbs then through open countryside and into Newport. We arrived at our hotel just as it was getting dark, about 6pm, after a long cold but rainless day.

We were underway by just after 8am on Saturday with seven cyclists now, to head north and east towards Chepstow, stopping for a coffee break in Caldicot.

John Churcher, who is blind and deaf, and Lauren Bean stopped with their tandem for a coffee breakHaving refuelled we set off for the older M4 bridge as it has a footpath on both north and south sides. We were joined by Abi on her ‘road runner’ who successfully crossed in spritely fashion.

Tim Tayler and Abi Bubb on her 'road runner' crossing the Severn BridgeWe had a lunch time pit stop in a welcoming hostelry then made our way to Sharpness to view Tenacious and pay our respects.

The Wheels for Tenacious team lined up at Sharpness Docks with Tenacious in teh backgroundIt was decided that a celebratory piece of cake was required so following that we moved to our overnight stop and some well earned showers, beers and food.

The Wheels for Tenacious team standing on a roadside eating cakeThe final day was a shorter ride so we gave ourselves a later departure and progressed gently through more lovely countryside with occasional views of the Severn. We then joined the tow path beside the Gloucester canal and Abi joined us again up to the Docks arriving around 2pm.

The Wheels for Tenacious team beside a lightship in Gloucester DocksWhat an incredible experience! It was definitely challenging at times, but we stayed warm and dry, and the results were amazing. We reached so many people through ITV Wales and we were mentioned on BBC Radio Wales, it was totally worth it.

The best part? The camaraderie, the jokes, the shared sense of purpose – we had a blast! And guess what? We’re doing it again next year, bigger and better. Ready for round four?

Keep an eye out for the announcement about next year’s adventure(s).

Huge thanks to the hardy folk who took this challenge on and completed it with gusto and humour.

(You can read a lot more about this adventurous ride on the Wheels for Tenacious website.)

Cycle for Tenacious!

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From Friday 11th to Sunday 13th of October a mixed-ability team will cycle from tall ship SV Lord Nelson in Barry 100 miles to tall ship SV Tenacious in Sharpness and finish at Gloucester. Transport will be by any (human powered) wheels – including tandems, sit-bikes, and pedal assist e-bikes or similar for anyone that requires them to take part.

The mission is to unite individuals of all abilities in a thrilling challenge event, showcasing the power of mixed-ability teamwork, transforming perceptions of disability, and rallying support for the Save Tall Ship Tenacious campaign to preserve the world’s only tall ship designed and built for a mixed-ability crew.

You can join us for the whole challenge, a day, or a segment: we’d love to have you with us! More details and how to sign up can be found on the Wheels For Tenacious website.

Just like onboard the ship, no matter your abilities, no matter your circumstances, there’s a place for you in our team and the #WheelsForTenacious challenge will be a team effort.

This is not just about the physical challenge, it’s a testament to the spirit of inclusivity, of community, and of collaboration.

Write to your MP!

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Here’s a link to a draft letter that you can download, complete, print and then send to your local MP, your representative in the Scottish or Welsh Parliaments, or the Northern Ireland Assembly, and those sitting in the House of Lords in your area. If you would like to personalise it with your own story, feel free. The letters are much more powerful if you can personalise them by adding a paragraph about why Tenacious is so important to you.

You must add you own home address as MPs can only respond to people living in their own constituency. And please remember to add the date and sign it.

Munira Wilson, the MP for Twickenham, has tabled an Early Day Motion (EDM) in parliament about Tenacious and our campaign to save her (and re-tabled it after the election). You can read the full text of the motion by clicking on this link to EDM 40 – it’s well worth reading! Munira Wilson MP has said EDMs are a mechanism to raise awareness around an issue, and so has suggested we should all lobby our MPs to sign her EDM. So when you write to your MP please also ask them to sign Early Day Motion 40.

If you don’t know who your local MP is information, including contact details, can be found at:
Find your MP

And of course you can also use the text of the draft letter as the content of an e-mail to your MP. The Find your MP website should also provide an e-mail address for your MP.

The WriteToThem website lets you find and e-mail all your local and national representatives.

It would be really helpful if, once you have sent the letter or e-mailed, you could let Anne O’Brien know who you’ve sent it to by clicking on this link to Contact Anne O’Brien. We want to keep track of who has been contacted and hope to fill in the gaps, so as many MP’s and Lords are aware of Tenacious as possible.

If you would like to pass the letter on to friends and family who could also send it to their MP/local Lord, please do so. The greater number of people we reach, the better.

Here’s a map showing which MPs have been contacted so far:

Sign our petition!

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Please sign and share this petition to help get Tenacious sailing again:
Save the Tall Ship Tenacious (mixed disabled and non-disabled crew)

After you’ve signed our petition on the Change.org website you may be asked for a donation. The Save Tall Ship Tenacious team aren’t collecting money at the moment – any donation you choose to make goes to support Change.org.

Here’s a link to an A3 poster with a QR code to this web page which you can print and display to encourage more people to sign!

JST becomes insolvent

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It was with great sadness that the Jubilee Sailing Trust declared insolvency on the 14th December 2023. Like many charities it has faced great financial difficulty, particularly after Covid. This leaves the future for SV Tenacious very uncertain. The ‘Tenacious – Looking Forward’ group, which is made up of many volunteers and supporters, hope that a solution can be found so that Tenacious can continue to provide adventures for all. It would be a tragedy if the only tall ship in the world that enables disabled and non-disabled people to sail along side each other as equal members of crew is lost.

Please help us find someone, a charity or a consortium to take on this magnificent ship to continue changing lives through providing mixed ability voyage experiences. There is a large body of volunteer supporters who would be willing to help in any way they can!