New local drop-off point for 'School Bikes Africa' scheme

Photo: Athlone Rotary Club has a new drop-off point for the 'School Bikes Africa' initiative which is the civic recycling centre at Poolboy, Ballinasloe. Pictured there were: Tom Murphy, Ethel Gavin, and Billy Nott, Athlone Rotary, Brendan Goode and Ann Dolan, Galway County Council, Jason Dempsey, Rotary National Bikes Coordinator, and Ciaran Mannion, Athlone Rotary.

A new local drop-off point has been established for a Rotary Club initiative in which people can donate old bikes for prison inmates to refurbish so they can then be used by schoolchildren in Africa.

Athlone Rotary Club said that - pending the provision of a collection point in Athlone - people can now drop off sturdy unused bikes to the Galway County Council Recycling Centre at Poolboy, Ballinasloe, on Tuesdays, Thursdays or Saturdays only.

'School Bikes Africa' originated among Rotary Clubs in Northern Ireland, but was developed in the Republic a number of years ago through members of the Athlone Rotary Club.

At the time, Kiltoom resident and Rotary member Ethel Gavin was Governor of Loughan House open prison in Blacklion, Cavan, and she was contacted by fellow Rotarian Ciaran Mannion with the idea of having the bikes repaired by Loughan inmates.

"When Ciaran phoned me I was driving up to Loughan and I told him I'd take someone's right arm off for (an initiative) like this," Ethel told the Westmeath Independent.

"It was obvious that this was something prisoners could do, and could easily set up shop post-release. It doesn't take a whole pile of money to set up a system of prisoners fixing bicycles.

"We were given money to build a shed and to manage it in such a way that a few prisoners could work on different parts.

"It was a really welcome addition to Loughan House at the time because it's something that's easily transferrable for people who are happy to rehabilitate themselves."

The project has seen several thousand bikes refurbished and shipped out to The Gambia, where they can provide a transport lifeline for children in remote areas by making attendance at school accessible to them.

"(The prisoners) felt the value of doing this and, knowing where the bikes were going, they had a great sense of pride in the work they were doing," said Ethel.

"At the time we were taking all kinds of bikes, and the smaller bikes just weren't worth sending to Africa because you need strong, robust bikes.

"The prisoners would also work on doing up the (smaller) children's bikes and we allowed them to buy them for a very minimal price at Christmas, or birthdays, or to give as gifts.

"We had that little sideline going, and they got more value out of it in that sense as well."

This year, Rotary Ireland obtained funding in support of the project through county councils and the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment's anti-dumping initiative.

With this funding, Rotary Ireland has been able to grow and expand the project and it will ultimately mean that around 4,000 refurbished bikes will be collected from the Irish public over the next 12 months before being sent for repair to prison bike workshops in Loughan House and in Shelton Abbey open prison in Wicklow, which recently joined the scheme.

Ethel, who subsequently became Governor of the Midlands Prison but retired from the prison service earlier this year, said the 'School Bikes Africa' initiative had grown far beyond her original expectations.

"The recent development with the Government and with county councils has been really welcome, and it's great to see that it has more of a national portfolio now," she said.

Donations of bikes for the scheme are encouraged, but due to the rough nature of the roads in The Gambia, they should be of the mountain bike type, with wide tyres.

Anyone who has a suitable bike but is unable to get it to the recycling centre in Ballinasloe can contact local Rotary Club members Ciaran Mannion (at ecdisinfection@gmail.com) or Philip McGorisk of McGorisk's Pharmacy.