'Fietsmaatjes' foundation
Foundation Fietsmaatjes is a foundation that is now well known throughout the Netherlands. Fietsmaatjes ('Cycling buddies') is meant for everyone who likes to cycle, wants to keep moving and loves social contact, but due to a disability can no longer cycle independently. The guests of Fietsmaatjes are often people with a disability of movement, hearing, vision, cognition (e.g. dementia), loneliness or balance. These guests are linked to a volunteer, a Fietsmaatje. The volunteers like personal contact and cycling. The volunteers cycle with the guest on a duo bike, on the duo bike the volunteer can steer, brake and pedal. The guest can pedal.
The goal is to offer people who still want to cycle, but are no longer able to do so on their own, cycling tours of about 1-3 hours. With these weekly or bi-weekly cycling tours the isolation of the guests is broken, the guests get outside again and they are in moving in a fun and social way. This often results in nice and special contacts between guests and volunteers.
At the moment there are 19 local Fietsmaatjes, of which 16 organisations cycle. In the Netherlands, 1353 guests and 1143 volunteers cycled together in 2019. Fietsmaatjes is growing very fast and have the goal to have at least 60 local Fietsmaatjes organisations by the end of 2022. (Source: Fietsmaatjes)