Inspired by Helen Scott

Over the weekend Sophie Thornhill and Helen Scott won gold and broke a world record at the Rio UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships! Read more about their success on the British Cycling website.

Read below how winning a Helen Scott signed shirt has inspired a young person at Midland Mencap “to ride her bike straight away”!

“As a volunteer for Midland Mencap I get to be involved in lots of great events and spend time with lovely people on a regular basis. It’s the most rewarding thing I do and just before Christmas I saw how it could also have an amazing effect on my ten-year-old daughter.

She came along with me to help out at the ‘Weoley Winterland’ event at the community hub. As well as assisting me with selling jewellery and bows to the many attendees she also enjoyed taking part in the activities and bought herself a raffle ticket.

This turned out to be one of the winning tickets and, being too shy herself, my daughter sent me to collect a prize for her. The one I chose was a cycling shirt signed by Gold Winning Paralympian Tandem Pilot, Helen Scott.

My daughter seemed confused about my choice (I think she had her eye on a box of chocolates!) but when explained what it was she became curious. As soon as we got home we looked up Helen Scott online and found out all about her achievements in tandem cycling in the Paralympics and the Commonwealth Games. My daughter became incredibly excited. She put the shirt on and announced she was going to ride her bike straight away.

Since then, she has told everyone how she won something very special in the raffle at Midland Mencap and she always wears her ‘Helen Scott Cycling Shirt’ for any sporting activity. She’s very proud of it and it’s clear that the story behind it has inspired her.

It goes to show that getting involved at Midland Mencap and the contribution of great role models, like Helen Scott, can make a real difference.”