Afundación held this Monday, at its headquarters in A Coruña, a day of tribute to the volunteers and participants in the 'Pedalar y conversa' program, an initiative promoted by the Seniors area of Abanca's Social Work.
This is an activity that is part of the international movement 'On a bicycle without age', which began in Denmark and is present in more than 50 countries. In the case of Galicia, Afundación implemented it in 2021.
At this time, as explained at the tribute event, a total of 29 people are currently participating as volunteers in A Coruña, with a global route in 2023 of more than 2,700 kilometers, accompanying 423 beneficiaries, people with reduced mobility.
This was explained by the deputy coordinator of the Seniors area, Juanjo Castro, along with the attendees, including Pilar Fernández and Manuel López, program volunteers, and users such as Carmen Martínez or María José Villares.
Marta Bouza, from the Afundación Seniors area, and Clara García, representing one of the day centers that collaborates, Saraiva, also participated.
And with specially adapted electric tricycles, this accompaniment program seeks to offer beneficiaries the opportunity to go out on the streets accompanied by volunteers who operate this type of transport in which the participants ride and can talk with their companions. or with the people they meet on the street.
"We laugh, we tell jokes," explained María José Villares, who indicated that it allows her to get out of her routine and return to see spaces in the Herculean city that she no longer used to go to, such as the beach.
This initiative, which is also carried out in Pontevedra and Vigo with a total of 40 volunteers in the autonomous community, means, in the words of Clara García, from the Saraiva day center, giving the participants "multiple benefits" with "emotions and memories that the walks generate". "The volunteers are one more of the center," she said about the experience in her case and their involvement with the users.
"I wish there were many more entities involved in helping this wonderful generation," added Manuel López, one of the volunteers, in relation to the elderly people he helped in his case. He also recalled, as an anecdote, that this activity allowed him to see again a neighbor to whom he delivered mail when he was a postman.
The same positive feelings have been conveyed by Pilar Fernández, who collaborates in other volunteer activities, but who has highlighted that she liked this one and that, despite not being a big fan of cycling, she decided to sign up and take the three-hour training course. and the practices that this program entails, before being able to join the activity.
"It allows them to get out of their routine," pointed out, in turn, the daughter of Carmen Martínez, another user who is in a residence in Bastiagueiro, in the A Coruña municipality of Oleiros, and who has highlighted the walks she was able to take around area.
