Q/. How can we design a fun event which is genuinely accessible to everyone regardless of 'apparent' level of ability; involve bikers in the organisation and participation, and promote the work of the NABD at the same time?
A/. First you find a gurt big melting pot (a.k.a. 'the airfield at Dalton Army Barracks')........then you lob in the following ingredients:
A big dollop of support from the Station Staff Officer Lt. Col Hugh McCormack; a large can of help from the RSM Charlie Poole, sprinkle lightly with some very clever guys from the 3 Regt. REME workshops (S/Sgt Gaz Smith and L/Cpl Matt Winborn), marinade in enthusiasm from loads of young people from the Station Youth Club, then stir in the Time Lords Motorcycle Club and The Fallen Motorcycle C!ub and their families, and season with the mad antics of Greg 'Beemer' Dawe and his co-worker Mandie Sidebottom (the Youth & Community Development team for the Army in this area). Finally, you convince (or bribe with beer!) John Lance from the NABD that he really would like to come along and pop him in the pot to represent the Association, (we even gave him his own little tent!) and there you have it!

Q/. There you have WHAT!? 
A/. There you have the first Big Green Hamster Community Challenge, ready to rock and roll!

This event, (based 'loosely' on the old 'It's a Knock-Out' programme from TV) was set up by the staff from the Station Youth Club on Dalton Barracks Army base in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. The organisation team included members of the Time Lords Motorcycle Club and The Fallen Motorcycle Club.

Due to the international conflict situations around the world, such as Afghanistan and Iraq, there were very few serving soldiers able to assist with the actual running of this event. The Time Lords were asked by Beemer to assist with marshalling; making up a team to take part, and behind the scenes setting up. Members came from Abingdon, Cheltenham, Andover, and Birmingham, and they pulled in extra help from The Fallen' Motorcycle Club who came all the way from Cambridge to assist, (and Beemer got in touch with John Lance (NABD Rep, N.Wilts) who duly arrived in style on the day on his huge white Saab-engined trike and proved a great hit with the children (the big ones as well!) attending the event. John spent a great deal of his time chatting to people, showing off his trike, explaining the aims of the NABD and generally being a very positive portrayal of a disabled biker. John's being there reinforced the strong links we are building up between the young people at our Station Youth Club and organisations like the NABD in order to create an awareness of the needs, lifestyles and culture of disabled people. Beemer has already set up regular visiting and interaction sessions between the Station Youth Club and a local Barnardo's run Youth Club in Abingdon for disabled young people. The Big Green Hamster does just that little bit extra in terms of explaining that a 'difference' is not to be feared but, once understood, can be seen to be such a rich cultural asset.

We managed to get the head of the Army Welfare Service to come up to present the trophies and medals and our thanks go to Colonel Peter Villalard for supporting this very first event of its kind. Many more issues than 'disability awareness' were on show for discussion and this was a great opportunity for members of the public, military dependants, young people from military families and of course some high ranking Army Officers to actually see, meet and understand a bit more about the biking culture we all support. So many positive comments were either passed on directly, or overheard, relating to the positive side of biking and bikers that we knew we were doing the right thing. Colonel Villalard spent a good few hours on site and he chatted to just about everyone and was very supportive and complimentary about the whole set-up, especially the involvement of so many bikers. If his NABD raffle ticket turns up trumps he will be riding to H/Q on a bright pink 'Beach Bastard' Trike!

One really heartening thing was when Beemer was actually asked, "where are all the disabled guys?" We had 37 disabled children and adults on site and they were just about invisible. Why? Because they were all so absolutely accepted, no-one was treated any different from anyone else, they all just blended in. Teams taking part in the games were sometimes formed on spec and many had disabled members in those teams. One team that came across from 'Innovations Youth Club' in Gloucester comprised totally of disabled young people and they took part in all of the games under their own steam and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Many of those present didn't even notice that these youngsters were 'different'. No-one cared, no-one noticed and no-one sent out any negative vibes. The element of fun throughout was like a cloak that enveloped everyone involved, be they able-bodied or disabled.

Quite simply, no-one cared if you looked different, walked different, or talked different. That's the positive viewpoint of NOT caring!
It is our intention to build up the Big Green Hamster event over the coming years into a sort of 'flagship' event for the Army Welfare Service with an active demonstration of 'inclusive practice' being at the forefront-Next year we will be going Tri-Service' due to the amount of enquiries we have had since the first event. This means that we will hopefully be getting teams from the Navy and the RAF coming along next year and taking our positive messages back with them. In order to help get the 'inclusion' message across we will also be looking for teams with disabled members from the biking fraternity to take up the Challenge. We will also be asking the NABD to have a stand again on the event with some adapted bikes on show.

The event is not open to the general public as such but by invitation only. However, this should be seen as a positive aspect as those who are invited are in a position to spread the messages they find here back to their own communities. As a sort of final spin-off from the Big Green Hamster, Beemer and Big John from the Time Lords went down to London in October to the MOD'S Disability Conference called 'Altogether Better' centred on aspects of empowerment and of inclusion. They put on a terrific display of photo's and literature mainly from the Big Green Hamster. However, the end 4 feet of table were given over to leaflets, Open House magazines, and lots of photos of various biker/triker things with a NABD involvement.

All the magazines were taken away, and we spent some time with a wheelchair user who wanted to get back on a bike but didn't know about the NABD He does now!

The next Big Green Hamster Challenge is set for June 19th 2004. if you or your bike club would like to put a team together for a day of fun at Dalton Barracks, contact Beemer on 01235 543784 (there will be a charge of £20.00 per team to help refurbish the youth club).

Greg Dawe