Shropshire cycling club gets £3,000 cash boost
A former alcoholic from Market Drayton, who set up his own cycling club after being banned for drink driving, has been given a boost in his effort to help more people turn their lives around.
Ollie Atkin was a self-described “functioning alcoholic” for eight years before discovering cycling and founding Breaking Chains, which supports people in their recovery from alcohol and drug addictions.
And now the Big Lottery Fund has granted the club £3,000 to help build a lasting legacy of addiction support.
Ollie, 32, explained the club’s origins: “I was driving home from the pub I worked at late one night after drinking heavily. I was stopped by the police and had my licence suspended for two years, which was a huge wake-up call.
“I then bought a bike so I could get around and that’s when I fell in love with cycling. It saved my life.
“I was riding my bike everywhere and it really improved my physical and mental wellbeing. I was overweight and lost six stone in six months.
“I wanted to give something back to people in a similar situation to me. I’m in such a good place now and I recognised that others around me needed my help.”
Support
He founded Breaking Chains in April 2017 with the help of Energize, Newport Shropshire Cycling Club and addiction support group A Better Tomorrow.
On top of his full-time job at an electronics firm Ollie now supports around 10 people every week, leading rides through Telford and wider Shropshire.
The new money from lottery players will go towards maintaining bikes and cycling gear and training more members to become coaches and mentors to keep the cycle going.
Ollie said: “I can’t thank A Better Tomorrow and participants at Breaking Chains enough for all the support they offer me with helping to keep the club going.
“Cycling gives people a focus and takes up part of the day which would have been spent thinking about drinking or taking drugs. Helping others has made me realise how far I’ve come and how lucky I am to have come out of the other side.
“Being an alcoholic was like living in a nightmare. I drank 100 units a day. I didn’t sleep properly for six years and I stopped caring about anything, even myself, to the point where I thought about taking my own life.
“I owe my life to cycling. It gave me freedom, energy, a fresh perspective on the world and made me re-invent myself. One of the club’s riders, Gareth Stearn, came to Telford from Dudley two years ago to help tackle his alcohol addiction and joined Ollie at Breaking Chains.
The 47-year-old now helps run the club, and said cycling has changed his life.
He said: “We have a good chat on our bike rides and support each other through our bad days to help us stay positive. Before I was drinking heavily every moment I wasn’t at work, isolating myself and wallowing in self-pity. This project has helped me see there is a light at the end of the tunnel.”
