A new bike shop has opened in Huntly with thousands of unwanted north-east bikes set to be saved from the scrap heap as part of a new scheme.
‘The Bikery,’ which is operated by charity Gordon Rural Action, will be selling recycled bikes and offering maintenance and repairs as part of a project launching on June 10.
The scheme involves a network of local partners known as ‘CycleHub.Org’ and will transform old, donated bikes into refurbished models ready for resale for worthy causes.
Unwanted bikes can be dropped off at locations across Aberdeenshire and will then be assessed and refurbished at repair workshops.
These Bikes will then be resold at discounted prices or, via a referral scheme, given to children who otherwise might not be able to own their own.
Over the past year, Regional Transport Partnership Nestrans, has been working alongside two local charities; Stella’s Voice and Gordon Rural Action, as well as social enterprise Angus Cycle Hub CIC, to deliver the project.
The two charities are the first of what is hoped will be a growing network of CycleHub.Org partners to offer the service across the north east.
Both charities received funding and support to develop premises to store, repair and resell the bikes, as well as funding Velotech bike maintenance training for staff.
The setup of the project has been possible thanks to a successful funding bid from Nestrans in 2022 to the Scottish Government’s Regional Transport Partnership Active Travel Grant. Nestrans has also been successful at gaining further funding from the
2023/24 Grant.
Events will take place on Saturday June 10, at The Bikery in Huntly and Stella’s Voice in Peterhead to celebrate the launch.
Councillor John Crawley, chair of Nestrans, said: “This is a fantastic project which we’re really pleased to see up and running. Beyond its environmental benefits by reducing the number of unwanted bikes going to landfill, it’s a key step in
ensuring that access to a bike is a possibility for people across the north east."
Laura McNeil, Bikery Project Co-ordinator at Gordon Rural Action said: “We are delighted to be part of the CycleHub.Org community, with the support of Nestrans we have been able to launch our new shop in Huntly, save hundreds of bikes from entering
landfill and help people from all walks of life enjoy cycling with no barriers.
"We hope that the local communities around Aberdeenshire will get behind us and donate as many bikes as possible. Launching during the 100th annual bike week celebration makes this extra special."
Angus Cycle Hub CIC director Scott Francis said: “We are thrilled to be helping shape Bike Re-use in the Northeast of Scotland.
"Our projects in Dundee and Angus process over 3000 unwanted bikes per year and we estimate that there could be as many as 12,000 bikes being dumped within the Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire area every year that could be benefitting local people.
"This project fits in with our social enterprises wider environmental ambitions of helping reduce and divert bike waste, encouraging health and wellbeing through cycling and reducing Carbon Emissions on a national level through the power of bikes!”
https://www.aberdeenlive.news/news/aberdeen-news/new-bike-shop-opens-huntly-8507765
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