Generous donation from councillors helps cycling club to keep growing

Wolverhampton Wheelers have been able to buy the new storage unit after a donation of £2,500 from the Tettenhall Regis councillors Sohail Khan, Uday Singh and Robert Maddox from their ward funds.

The club has also been able to install the new unit at its base at WV Active Aldersley after Haywards Transport from Walsall and ABA Cranes from Ashmore Park provided their services for free to transport and lower the unit into place.

It will allow the club, which has members ranging from five to 85-years-old, to store more equipment and provide more classes and community sessions, with coach, coordinator and events secretary Shaun Mason full of thanks for the councillors generosity.

He said: "To be able to get a container like that and be able to invest in the club's future and work in the community and to have that professional set-up at Aldersley is absolutely brilliant.

"It's a secure unit and we have children and young people training here and learning to ride the bikes, so to be able to have that container to hold the equipment and provide that safe environment is priceless."

Mr Mason said the club was a community-focussed club and said it gave the club a sense of pride to have that facility and be able to showcase it to the community.

He also offered words of thanks to the councillors for their donation, saying: "We first met them in November when it was freezing cold, but they were so enthusiastic about supporting what we can do down here.

"I and the club can't thank them enough for all their support and they've even spoke about bringing their own kids down here and spreading the words of the club, so we can't thank them enough.

"I also want to thank Haywards Transport and ABA Cranes as they offered their services completely free of charge and without blinking for something that would have cost a lot of money to do, so we can't speak highly enough of them."

Councillor Sohail Khan said he and the other councillors had been approached by Wheelers president and cycling legend Hugh Porter about the container and said they thought it was a fantastic cause to support.

He said: "Wolverhampton Wheelers do a fantastic job, not just in Tettenhall, but across the city, so what better way to support them than to get this sorted for them, so we bought the container.

"Ward funds are about making a significant difference to local community groups, so we were delighted to be able to help with this.

"As a city, we need to be able to promote more health and fitness, so cycling is a big part of this and to be able to keep the Wheelers going and growing the fantastic work they do is a privilege."