Crankworx: Share the Ride programme treats children in need

Kayanne Wilson and her family are buzzing to be involved in the programme. Photo / Stephen Parker

The Wilson children have "always wanted to be able to bike to school".

Soon they'll get that wish thanks to Mountain Bike Rotorua's Share the Ride programme.

Share the Ride, in conjunction with Crankworx, aims to give families in need a chance to explore one of the city's "greatest assets" and be active while doing it, Crankworx organiser Tak Mutu said.

In just six weeks, 10 families are taught both riding and first aid skills, the history of the city's forests, all things bike maintenance and try a range of mountain biking trails.

After all their hard work, the families are rewarded with new Giant bikes and helmets.

Among them are four Rotorua children who will get their first chance to "have something to call their own".

Kayanne Wilson applied to take part in the programme for two years and this year her persistence paid off.

With husband Shane and their four children, they were "buzzing" to start the programme today.

Crankworx organiser Tak Mutu. Photo / File

Wilson said her kids were all "sporty" and being able to get involved in something like this would be life-changing for them.

None of her children had a bike so to be able to get a new one would be a huge treat, she said.

"We are pretty used to hand-me-downs that are half broken ... They can have something to call their own."

Wilson said one of the children was actually her niece, who had recently moved in with them and she was "so happy" she could join in.

Doing something like this with the "family unit" would work wonders for her niece, she said.

Wilson said the programme would give her children "more independence and responsibility".

"They've always wanted to be able to bike to school."

The initiative had been going for five years and had made a huge difference for many children in the community, Mutu said.

For the first time, the initiative was being offered to children and their parents as a result of sponsorship.

Mutu said this was valuable because many children would not be able to go without their parents.

Loads of children who went through the programme continued to ride afterward, with Mutu saying many became a part of the mountain bike community and even gave racing a go at Crankworx.

Many also went on to use the bike as a form of transport to school or their friends' houses too, he said.

"It's pretty rad."

Wilson said the family were "so thankful" for the opportunity and she hoped they could "pay it forward" in some way.

So far, 50 local families have benefited from the programme.