Bike Riders for Peace welcomed to Rochdale

A group of Bike Riders for Peace were welcomed to Rochdale on Thursday (1 September) as part of a week-long tour of northern England.

Bike for Peace is a non-governmental organisation in Norway that works for a world without nuclear weapons, for peace and disarmament, for improved life for disabled persons and for measures to combat climate change.

The group of Norwegian (and some British) riders is led by Tore Naerland, who is nearly blind but is a keen cyclist and has organised similar tours all over the world. The event is co-sponsored by Mayors for Peace, a global organisation founded in Hiroshima in 1982. It has 8,200 member cities in 166 countries and regions. Local supporting organisations include the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and Quakers.

The group were welcomed to Number One Riverside by Mayor Ali Ahmed and Rochdale and Littleborough Peace Group.

 

 

Tore said: “We are so delighted to be here with the mayor and I have a team with me here for Norway, one from Bergen, one from Alvdal and my tandem partner.

“We are biking for a world without nuclear weapons and I know this is difficult in this time but nuclear weapons can never be used. They will affect not only the enemy but yourselves and the nation using the nuclear weapons. So Bike For Peace has aimed to work against nuclear weapons.

“The 1980s, there were 80,000 nuclear weapons and today there is 30,000 nuclear weapons but there is still 30,000 too many nuclear weapons

“The second thing we bike for is peace in Ukraine. The third thing we bike for is to encourage more disabled people to do more sport and physical activities, to be active in society and to integrate in society.

“And the fourth thing we bike for is for more people to bicycle to improve the environment worldwide.”

 

 

Rae Street, chair of Rochdale and Littleborough Peace Group, said: “The past two years have seen a rise in global tension and an increase in nuclear dangers. At the same time, the world faces catastrophic threats, the pandemic, water shortages, climate change. 

“And if ever people doubted the dangers of global warming, surely they will believe it now with the floods in Pakistan, a country to which many people in Rochdale are linked. The ongoing war in Ukraine is not only making nuclear dangers more imminent but furthering other crises in the supply of energy and food.

“The scale of the global problems means we need global cooperation prioritising the real needs of people. People need security of life's essentials: shelter, food and water - not military security which only brings weapons and war.

“Here in the UK, the US Trident nuclear armed submarine project should be scrapped and the £205 billion for its replacement put to health and welfare and the cost-of-living crisis. We need to raise awareness of these dangers which affect every one of us both here in Rochdale and across the planet.

“That is why we are so pleased to meet up with our friends from Norway who share our aims for a peaceful and sustainable global society. We here are inspired too by the courage of Tore Naerland, the cycle rider who is nearly blind, and his campaigning for a better life for the disabled.

“Here in Rochdale, we are inspired by Jane Touil, who is also severely sight impaired but is committed to raising awareness of the dangers of burning fossil fuels. So from Rochdale and Littleborough Peace Group, a warm welcome to our Norwegian Bike Riders for Peace.”