NHS Lanarkshire has teamed up with a handful of local businesses to provide staff with a free bike loan.
Kathleen Feeney, a speech and language therapist at University Hospital Wishaw, was one of the first members to use the scheme. Kathleen spoke on how riding a bike to work gave her more joy during the first lockdown.
Kathleen said: “These past months have been stressful and uncertain and with Covid-19 I felt like I was just going to work, coming back, going to work and nothing else. But with the bike, it was so much fun and it was a lovely way to start and finish my day.”
Before using the scheme and cycling to work, Kathleen had not been on a bike for over 20 years and was worried that she would not remember how to ride a bike and what it would be like on the main roads. However, this did not stop her. She has had nothing but a positive experience and has enjoyed the results of cycling to work.
Kathleen spoke on her results saying: “The physical and mental results were amazing. I have not only lost a bit of weight, but have improved mentally and now the working day flies by as I’m so excited to cycle home. Working in the hospital is stressful but by having a way of just switching off and that feeling of ending the day with meaningful exercise has been incredible.”
NHS Lanarkshire has partnered with Getting Better Together and Brompton to release 50 more bikes to key workers for a free 90-day loan and are encouraging staff to take part in the scheme.
For more information, or if you have any questions on the new bike scheme, email Georgie.stuart@lanarkshire.scot.nhs.uk
