Welcome back to the Quingo Scooter Users Area. The Red Wheelies – the world’s first mobility scooter formation display team – have broken world records, wowed the audience on Britain’s Got Talent and completed more than 500 miles of scootering for charity. Now, after 15 exciting years, the Red Wheelies have decided to call it a day having achieved their goal of raising awareness about Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and raising funds for their local MS Therapy Center.
MS affects nerves in the brain and spinal cord, causing a wide range of symptoms including problems with muscle movement, balance and vision. It’s estimated that there are currently around 100,000 people with MS in the UK. For reasons not yet fully understood, MS is three times more common in women than men.
What the Red Wheelies had to say
Jackie Weeden has been with the Red Wheelies from the outset. The Quingo team caught up with Jackie recently who said: “It’s been a fun, positive few years and we’re delighted to have raised a great deal of positive awareness about MS along the way. We’ve been together as the Red Wheelies for a long time now and it was getting harder and harder to organise everything. There’s a lot of planning behind the scenes with transportation and the like and costs were rising too.
“Nevertheless we feel that we managed what we set out to do which was to raise positive awareness about MS. It’s always been our philosophy that you have to focus on what you can do as opposed to what you can’t do.”
“We’d like to thank Mark and the Quingo team for all their help and support supplying us with Quingo scooters in the early days – which we thought (and still think) are fantastic – and their continued support throughout the years. We’d also like to thank everyone who supported us throughout our journey.
154 miles in 24 hours!
Jackie continued: “A real highlight for us was the Hadrian’s Wall walk! It was a great effort from all the team and it’s something that will always stay with us but one of the main standout moments for me personally was breaking the Guinness world record for the longest distance travelled on a mobility scooter in 24 hours (154 miles).”
When asked what the Red Wheelies thought of Simon Cowell, Jackie said: “Simon Cowell was lovely and liked our act. He said he wanted us in the next round to jump over David Walliams on our Quingos.”
What’s next?
Will there ever be a Red Wheelies reunion? Jackie was reticent about this: “We are being tempted out of retirement, though I can’t say much more than that at the moment! We also have a spinoff group where many of us meet in the village hall in Beltinge to exercise and the girls regularly meet up for lunch and a natter. The camaraderie amongst the team is something that will last forever.”
The Quingo Team are thrilled to have worked with such a wonderful group of ladies and their support teams. We hope this isn’t really the end but we wish them well for now and all the best for the future.
