Brite is very excited to have had our Brike trialled at the Allity Aged Care facility in Lilydale. Allity is a not-for-profit provider of residential aged care services for retirement-aged individuals and couples across Australia. They recently took our Brike for a spin, with some of their residents, and the results were exactly the kind of fun, liberating, and joyful experiences that we have been working hard to achieve.
We love nothing more than hearing the real-life stories of people in the community using the Brike, so let’s take a look at how things went during its time at Allity Aged Care in Lilydale.
About Allity Aged Care
Allity Aged Care is a network of 70 retirement living homes across Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, and Western Australia. Each home—including the one in Lilydale—is passionate about enriching the lives of its residents by making sure each and every day counts.
Allity Aged Care goes to great measures to care about their residents’ wellbeing, by making sure they feel fulfilled while living in one of their residential aged care homes. Their passion for their residents is why so many retirees have enjoyed calling Allity Aged Care home throughout the years.
The Brike
The Brike project was a collaborative effort between RMIT, NORTH Link, and Toyota, driven by individuals with disabilities to benefit others facing similar challenges. Its main objective was to develop a series of e-bikes specifically tailored for people with disabilities and their families. In recognition of its potential, Brike received a substantial $300k grant from the NDIA’s Information Linkages and Capacity Building (ILC) initiative, which provided the necessary funds to commence work on the initial prototype.
Two versions were developed, the first prototype known as the wheelchair Brike has been designed for individuals in a wheelchair. The other version is the Rickshaw Brike, which has been designed for individuals with mobility issues and challenges. Both versions were created within Brike’s advanced technologies initiative. With invaluable guidance from Toyota, our team acquired crucial design and construction expertise, working collectively to conquer intricate obstacles and ensure the development of a product we could all take pride in.
By simplifying and making the intricate process accessible to our team members with support, we empowered them to contribute to an innovative means of transportation that enhances mobility for a broader range of individuals. This enabled Brite to achieve their vision for the Brike—being made by people with a disability for people with a disability.
The Brike is not just a piece of groundbreaking exercise apparatus, it connects individuals and increases community participation and inclusion whilst creating a wind-in-your-hair experience for both the passenger and rider. The Brike achieves this by accommodating both a person with a disability and a family member, friend, or loved one simultaneously.
The Results
The Rickshaw Brike trial at the Lillydale Allity Aged Care centre went well, with the facility sharing these thoughts about their experiences:
“Allity Lilydale was offered to trial the Brike. It is a yellow electric bike –Rickshaw combo. A staff member rides the Brike and a resident sits in the chair and they take rides around the lake. It has been so much fun for our residents, although Maureen over did it one day with resident Ken. After four trips around the lake, Maureen couldn’t get up this little hill… Ken was very encouraging however we had to call our maintenance man Daniel who came and pushed the Brike. Ken also went with Yvonne and due to a dog not keeping to its side of the path, Yvonne got bogged but was able to get out of the mud with a little help. Ken is still laughing.”
It still brings us so much joy to see our Brike bringing a smile to the faces of the residents of Allity Aged Care in Lilydale.
Contact Brite
If you would like to make use of Brite’s transformative services, including the Brike, contact Stephen Hyde at 0499 599 465 or shyde@brite.org.au.
