Local Focus: Second-hand 'Bike Drive' a huge success

All around the country Kiwi kids are getting their Christmas lists ready and right at the top is likely to be a shiny new bike.

For many families though, that's just not a reality. But thanks to Tauranga charity Good Neighbour, that may be about to change.

"The Good Neighbour second-hand Bike Drive started two years ago," organiser Angela Rogers said.

"We had a referral come through from the hospice for some bikes for some children who were under their grandmother's care. We put out a request on Facebook for some bikes for the kids and consequently we were inundated with offers of bikes."

To make it as easy as possible for people to donate a bike, Good Neighbour teamed up with My Ride in Mt Maunganui.

"We go out and assess the bike to make sure they're going to be safe for a child to ride once we've gone over them or repaired them to the point that we're not spending more money than what the bike's worth," John Bettridge said.

The bikes being donated aren't rusty old buckets either.

"With Covid 19 and the lockdowns, people out there are loving to ride and they've been upgrading their bikes but they've still got a good bike in good condition in their garage," said Bettridge. "'What am I going to do with it?' And we get the feeling that the community's wanting to give back."

After a tick of approval, it's off to a nearby aircraft hangar (also donated to the cause) for some final TLC.

"We're able to give the majority of them a nice clean, pump up the tyres, clean the derailleurs, make sure the brakes are going well, handlebar grips are good and they're good to go from there," Rogers said.

Then it's time to find the lucky recipients.

"We send out a referral form to our 70 agencies that we work with. Those agencies then give us the names and addresses of families and sizes of bikes that kids need. From there we match the bikes to the families and we go out in the first two weeks of December and deliver the bikes."

Each bike will also be delivered with a special gift.

"We're fortunate enough to have had Generation Homes come on board and they've sponsored all new helmets for the bikes."

For one local, donating the kids' old bikes offers a good lesson in life.

"I saw it on Facebook and I'm really into Good Neighbour, I think it's a really cool initiative," Rhian Ecclestone said.

"My kids, I want to teach them how to think about others at Christmas time, not just about presents and this is a good way to do it."

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