How a rickshaw charity is helping with the Covid jab effort

The Bury St Edmunds Rickshaw charity has a new passenger bike thanks to help from Jacobs Allen Chartered Accountants.

This means there are now two rickshaws in use to get locals to their coronavirus vaccination appointments.

Sam Reid, co-founder of the charity, helps train trustee and volunteer rider, Amanda Martin (Image: (C) Archant 2021)

The rides are free, Covid-safe and can be booked on 01284 339449 or online here.

Libby Ranzetta, co-chair of BSE Rickshaw, said: “With the vaccination programme in full swing, we needed extra capacity to take people to their appointments, so we bought a second-hand machine with help from Jacobs Allen and other generous supporters.”

Bury St Edmunds Rickshaw now has three ‘trishaw’ machines - a cargo bike that can also be used for carrying wheelchairs and two passenger rickshaws that are designed to take people with limited mobility (Image: (C) Archant 2021)

BSE Rickshaw started in 2018 to take local people for trips round the Abbey Gardens to enjoy the fresh air and chat to passersby, but since the coronavirus pandemic all that has changed.

The charity’s 50 volunteers are busy instead delivering prescriptions, shopping and food parcels for vulnerable residents - up to 40 deliveries a day.

Sam Reid shows volunteer rider, Amanda Martin, basic maintenance (Image: (C) Archant 2021)

Sheila Burke, director of Jacobs Allen Chartered Accountants, said: “We are so proud to have supported BSE Rickshaw from the beginning.

"The volunteers work so hard to help the community and these vaccination rides are the latest example of BSE Rickshaw adapting to the current changing circumstances and giving a vital service to our town’s citizens.

Over the weekend volunteers were training in the beautiful setting of the Abbey Gardens in Bury St Edmunds (Image: (C) Archant 2021)

"The new bike is orange and very handsome, and will be popular for pleasure rides and deliveries long after we’re through this lockdown.”