Hello! My name is Wesley Ratcliffe (Wes) and I am the new Cycling Development Officer at Seashell.
I will be working to develop The Bradbury Cycling Centre, and I hope to build on local relationships to launch, embed and sustain inclusive cycling projects both at Seashell, and in the local community. I am looking forward to working with key partners to develop Seashell to be a regional hub for inclusive cycling.
I will also be working on promoting cycling opportunities to my colleagues across Seashell, offering support and guidance on how to make the most of pedal power!
Prior to becoming the Inclusive Cycle Development Officer, I worked in the Active team as Sports and Wellbeing Assistant, and before that I worked as a Learning Support assistant in Royal College Manchester. Before life at Seashell, I volunteered as a community football coach, primarily in Pan-Disability football, where I received some regional and national recognition for the work I was doing.
The benefits of cycling are endless, from improved coordination, cardiovascular fitness, muscle strengthening, enhanced independence skills as well as psychological benefits. When I think back to learning to ride myself, the one thing that sticks in my memory was the day my dad let go of the seat as he pushed me along in the park. I was riding along on my own and I felt amazing, a real sense of achievement! I truly believe that all children and young adults, disability or not, should be able to experience this.
Part of my new role allows me to look at different types of cycles that are available on the market from standard trikes, hand bikes to wheelchair accessible cycles – I hope to have a large fleet of equipment that will make cycling fully accessible and inclusive for everybody.
There are many things I enjoy about the job, I feel fully supported by the team around me and have plenty of opportunities to access further training and qualifications which will enable me to be an even better version of myself.
I have also recently launched our evening CADS community sessions, which has been a huge success.
If I were to choose a superpower, it would be the power of TELEPORTATION! It is much more useful than other superpowers. Life as a working parent is busy and hectic, with this power, I could save a lot of time and get more rest…and it would be better for the environment!
