Posted: 23 June, 2026
As Wheels for All celebrates its 35th anniversary, we are shining a spotlight on the people who helped shape the charity into what it is today. Few people have been part of that journey for as long as Hermine, who recently retired after more than three decades with the organisation – and who holds the unique distinction of being Wheels for All’s very first employee.
Hermine joined the charity in 1991 after spotting a small newspaper advert for a role with the newly formed organisation. At the time, she was moving north with her young family and was looking for a new opportunity. A lifelong love of cycling, inspired by childhood rides with her cousin, made the role an ideal fit.
“I’ve always loved cycling,” she recalls. “When I saw the advert, it just felt right.”
Back then, Wheels for All was known as Cycling Projects and operated from the top floor of a chapel in Salford alongside a number of other charities. Resources were limited, but Hermine remembers a close-knit community of organisations supporting one another, all working towards making a difference.
In those early days, inclusive cycling was virtually unheard of in England. Adapted cycles and specialist parts often had to be sourced from mainland Europe or the United States, and when equipment couldn’t be purchased, the team got creative. Hermine remembers tracking down old adapted cycles in the most unlikely places, including underneath an arena, before restoring them and getting them into the hands of groups who needed them.
There was certainly no such thing as a typical day. “We just did what needed doing,” Hermine says.
That often meant loading adapted cycles into a van and travelling across the country with former CEO and current Chief Partnerships Officer Ian Tierney, delivering sessions, meeting communities and raising awareness of the life-changing potential of inclusive cycling.
Looking back, Hermine believes the charity played a pivotal role in establishing inclusive cycling in England.
“There was no inclusive cycling provision that I knew of anywhere else in the country,” she explains. “We were introducing people to something completely new.”
While many of the people she met in those early years may not remember the individuals who visited their communities, Hermine believes they will never forget the feeling that cycling gave them. Communities embraced inclusive cycling and took ownership of it locally, ensuring that the work begun by the charity would continue long into the future with Wheels for All’s support.
When asked what she is most proud of after 35 years, Hermine doesn’t point to a particular project or achievement. Instead, she reflects on the impact the charity has had on people’s lives.
“I’m proud that we’ve been able to empower people for more than three decades,” she says. “Not just through the sessions themselves, but in their everyday lives. Cycling gives disabled people confidence in so many ways that you would never expect.”
Over the years, she has watched Wheels for All grow from a small team with a big ambition into a national leading charity supporting thousands of disabled people and their families. One of her greatest joys has been revisiting hubs established years earlier and seeing first-hand how demand for inclusive cycling has continued to grow.
Of all the challenges the charity has faced, Hermine believes the COVID-19 pandemic was the most significant.
“Everything could have ended,” she reflects.
Instead, communities came together to support one another and ensure that cycling and inclusive cycling continued. For Hermine, that period perfectly demonstrated what has always made Wheels for All special: people working together towards a shared goal.
Ian Tierney, Chief Partnerships Officer at Wheels for said “When Hermine joined what would become Wheels for All in 1991, none of us could have imagined just how far the organisation would come. As our first employee, she helped lay the foundations for everything Wheels for All is today. Whether that was travelling the country delivering sessions, finding adapted cycles in the most unlikely places, or building relationships with communities, Hermine approached every challenge with the belief that everyone should have the opportunity to experience the joy of cycling.
Thousands of people have benefited from her dedication over the last 35 years, even if they never knew her name. I feel incredibly privileged to have worked alongside her for so many years. On behalf of everyone connected with Wheels for All, thank you, Hermine, for helping create a movement that continues to change lives every day.”
As she steps into retirement, Hermine looks back on her time with the charity not as a job, but as a privilege.
When thanked for her extraordinary contribution to Wheels for All, her response was simple:
“It wasn’t work.”
After more than 30 years helping to build a movement that has transformed lives across the country, that’s perhaps the greatest testament to Hermine’s dedication of all.
Thank you, Hermine, for everything you have done for Wheels for All over the last 35 years.
