Local charity, Recharge, has recently launched a bicycle project to promote cycling in the Fa’side area.
The bicycle project has been running for several years and was originally set up to upskill young people on bike maintenance. The project was in high demand and has now seen it set up as a social enterprise thanks to funding from the Fa’side Area Partnership. In addition, Scottish Caravan Storage has provided storage space for bicycles over the last few years and Ormiston Station Growers have also provided an additional space for the project beside the main cycle path in the area.
Recharge bicycle project provides safety checks, bike maintenance, services and repairs. The project also takes donations of bicycles and sells them at affordable prices. However, Recharge can gift bicycles to community members who wouldn’t normally have the opportunity to purchase them. As a social enterprise, all profits will go into supporting Recharge activities. Other initiatives include the establishment of a register of local bikes to combat theft and partnership with local schools and groups to help educate and build up skills on safe cycling locally.
Recharge Bicycle Project is open on a Monday and Friday from 1.30pm until 4.30pm both days. It runs in the charity’s Church Street premises by bicycle project worker Kyle Munro (shown below right) and Recharge Manager Alan Bell.
Simon Davie said
“Fa’side Area Partnership were delighted to support Recharge to create a bike project for the Fa’side area. Two of our key priorities are to improve travel options for our residents and increase opportunities for physical activity in our area.”
“To achieve this there are a range of projects within our area plan which we hope to implement. These are all being supported by Recharge and their bike project. One current example is a project to improve the quality of our core paths for use by cyclists. Alan, Kyle and young people from Recharge will take part in our audit of core paths, with a view to rating them from a cyclist point of view. We will then seek to improve core paths following the audit.”
Mr Davie added
“The service provided by Recharge is excellent (speaking first hand as a customer!), especially as a novice cyclist! I got excellent advice and the after sales service was fantastic.
There are a number of other Area Plan projects which are cycling related, which Alan and the project are working on for the Area Partnership and we look forward to continuing our positive relationship with Recharge Bike Project.”
Recharge Project Manager Alan Bell said
“It is fantastic to get the Bicycle project up and running it has been an aspiration for a long time and has been a project which was driven by the needs of the young people and community. It was fantastic to get the support and funding from the area partnership to make this project finally happen.”
Recharge bike project worker Kyle Munro was equally enthusiastic: “I am really excited to be working on this project and I hope we are able to provide new cycling opportunities to the local community as well as helping improve the local cycling infrastructure”
Councillor Tim Day East Lothian Council Cabinet Spokesperson for Community Wellbeing added his support for the project:
“As a keen cyclist I am delighted that Recharge are launching their new bike project. Cycling is a great way to get around, and it’s also a really good way of keeping fit and healthy, so having a project that promotes cycling is an incredibly important initiative. It’s also a good way of recycling old bikes, and giving them a new lease of life. They also offer a repair service and safety checks to keep young people on the road”