Donate your unwanted bikes in 2024 and help support Wheels for Life

You may have been been treated to a new bike this Christmas and unsure what to do with your old one.

If so, health and fitness promoter Active Lincolnshire is encouraging you to start 2024 by doing a good deed and donating your old bike to the Wheels for Life scheme that is now live across Lincolnshire.

Wheels for Life is a new programme for bike donation which is taking pre-loved bikes and bringing them back to a usable condition for them to be gifted to people who do not have the opportunity to enjoy the varied benefits of owning and using a bike.

The scheme is now up and running in hubs around Lincolnshire including: The Meres Leisure Centre in Grantham; Tonic Health in Holbeach; Support for Ukraine Lincolnshire in Lincoln; One NK in North Hykeham; Better Gym in Sleaford; Low Carbon in Louth and Magna Vitae in Skegness.

The scheme is encouraging people to donate their unloved and unused bikes to support others who can benefit from owning a bike. It is recommended that bikes donated are adult and older children’s bikes in a useable and

repairable condition.

When the bikes arrive to their hub, they are repaired and fully serviced by volunteers to ensure that they have a long service life when they reach their new homes. The bikes will then be gifted to people across the county

along with a cyclist starter kit, including safety equipment and training.

The hubs are both donation points and repair centres - each hub has recruited volunteer bike mechanics that have been fully trained by the scheme. The teams are working with referral partners to ensure that the bikes are rehomed to people across Lincolnshire who will benefit the most from having a bike to use as a form of transport.

The scheme is being overseen by Active Lincolnshire, the county’s charity that advocates for creating inclusive, accessible opportunities for people to be active. The charity launched the new scheme to rehome unloved and

unwanted bicycles, and to support people in transport poverty. The aim is to recycle 500 bikes in the first year of the campaign, which will have a huge impact on the environment saving 7.5 tons of waste every year.

For more information on how to donate go online to https://www.activelincolnshire.com/wheels-for-life-bike-donation-lincolnshire/donate-a-bike

Interested in finding out how you can receive a bike from the scheme? Go online to https://www.activelincolnshire.com/wheels-for-life-bike-donation-lincolnshire/referral

If you would like to volunteer to support your local hub, get in touch with the team at [email protected]