Minister presenting special mobility trike to Mayo Autism Camp today

THE Minister of State at the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Hildegarde Naughton, will present a special mobility trike donated to Mayo Autism Camp by Variety - the Children’s Charity of Ireland today (Wednesday, April 23) at Manulla Football Club.

This special mobility trike is one of 650 already provided by the charity to children with mobility issues around Ireland as part of Variety’s Recycle Mobility Programme, which is supported by Minister Naughton and her department.

This special mobility trike supports equal access to cycling for children with mobility issues so they can be included in cycling activities with their family and friends. The trike will now ensure the wonderful children attending Mayo Autism Camp can have their own bike and enjoy cycling activities together.

Research conducted by the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland (RCSI) in conjunction with Variety shows the Recycle Mobility Programme not only supports inclusion and equal access to cycling for children with disabilities, but also improves the mental and physical well-being of both the child and immediate family members by up to 87.5%

Variety Ireland have already provided 70 special mobility trikes to children in Co. Mayo as part of the programme.

Also this year, with the support of Castlebar Tidy Towns and Mayo County Council, over 60 community groups planted 100 native apple trees in Castlebar which was paid for by Variety Ireland as part of their 'Bee Kind' initiative.

In October 2024, Variety Ireland, with the support of the Department of Transport, launched Europe’s very first automated disability cycling greenway hub on the Great Western Greenway at Mulranny. This provides visitors to the greenway with mobility issues to access special mobility trikes so they too can be included in cycling activities on the greenway.

Variety – the Children’s Charity of Ireland is a not-for-profit children’s charity that operates under the strict supervision of a no-paid CEO and board members who all dedicate their time to the charity for free and without expense. This ensures we maximise all funding it receives that goes to helping children from disadvantaged backgrounds across Ireland.