IWD 2022: Jo Roach - founder of PedalPower: The inclusive cycle club in North London
- By Brian Leveson
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- 07 Mar, 2022
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International Women's Day 2022: Difficult Parent is celebrating Jo Roach. Learning disabled, living in North London and looking for something to do on a Saturday? Thanks to PedalPower founder Jo Roach you can go cycling in Finsbury Park.
This is Jo Roach, North Londoner and founder of PedalPower
What is PedalPower?
PedalPower is an inclusive cycle club for learning disabled people of all ages and all abilities.
How did PedalPower start?
Jo’s daughter is a really good cyclist who happens to be learning disabled. Jo was looking for a cycle club for a daughter to go to. When Jo could not find a cycle club for her daughter, she set one up herself! Set up in 2004 with 2 people, PedalPower has helped over 2,000 people over 17 years.
Where is PedalPower?
PedalPower have sessions at Finsbury Park, Emirates and New River Athletics Track
You can find out about PedalPower and make a booking on their website: https://www.pedalpowercc.org/
At Finsbury Park they also have a Changing Places which
helps make the sessions more inclusive for people with profound and complex
needs.

Haringey SEND Transport are insisting that a 17 year old minibus with no air conditioning is a suitable vehicle to transport my paraplegic son in this heatwave. The appalling conditions inside the minibus inside the bus is something they knew about last summer, yet they have to date done nothing whatsoever provide a suitable minibus this year nor appropriately mitigate the temperatures inside the minibus.The conditions inside the minibus are so bad that they triggered multiple seizures during the heatwave as my son has epilepsy, which they SEND transport department know about and they also know that they are triggered by heat.It is not just son who is impacted: last year we know of one child who died on Haringey SEND Transport in the summer heatwave and another who had seizures.