One in ten of them removed from Putney’s streets
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Positively Putney Business Improvement District (BID) has teamed up with Wandsworth community centre ‘Carney’s Community’ to remove abandoned bikes off the streets and donate them to young people who are NEET (young people not in education, employment or training).
The BID has removed 12 abandoned bikes from Putney town centre in the past year and donated them to the charity.
Carney’s Community runs workshops in which the 11-18 year olds work with mechanics to fix up the bikes. The teenagers then get to keep the bikes or they are sold on with any profits re-invested into local youth projects.
Nicola Grant, Executive Director of Positively Putney Business Improvement District said: “We’ve just had tens of thousands of cyclists coming through Putney this weekend for RideLondon - the great annual cycling festival which encourages people to get on their bikes, brings spectators out to line our high street, and support our local shops, pubs and cafes in the process.
“Cycling does not just benefit our community once a year though, we’ve been removing abandoned bikes from our town centre and donating them to the fantastic Wandsworth youth club Carney’s Community where local kids are being taught how to fix them up.
“The initiative helps keep Putney clean and benefits kids who are not in education, employment or training. We may even see some of them participating in RideLondon and pedalling through Putney in the years to come.”
About 100 unwanted or abandoned bikes from Putney and Wandsworth have been donated to local young people through Carney’s Community in the past year.
Rory Bradshaw, lead youth worker at the charity said:“Through our regular workshops, local young people get to work with mechanics to fix up abandoned or unwanted bikes. They learn useful practical skills and they get to keep the bikes which they would not otherwise be able to afford.
“Often these bikes are left on the streets in estates or outside train stations, and it’s thanks to the initiative taken by organisations like Positively Putney BID that they are removed off the streets and donated to a good cause.”
Carney’s Community is still accepting abandoned or unwanted bikes. For more information visit: www.carneyscommunity.org
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August 8, 2019
