RE-CYCLING TO SUCCESS

In tandem, Jim O’Donnell and April Gordon of Community Can Cycle in Glasgow’s Castlemilk estate wheeled up in their dinner suits for the National Recycling Awards 2003 event in Telford’s International Centre on Wednesday 15th October. Their community project has repaired 800 bikes free for local kids in their area so far this year and was one of the contenders for the Best Community Project for Recycling category.

To sustain Community Can Cycle’s service, the project has recycled 7980 glass bottles, 33 tonnes of aluminium cans and 11 tonnes of steel cans. ‘Many cans make a bike work,’ quipped Jim. ‘We also build safe, good-as-new bikes from broken and disused bikes,’ said Jim who was inspired to launch the programme with the help of Castlemilk Economic Development Agency. By making the recycled cycles available at an affordable price in the community, the project is helping keep people out of debt and out of the hands of moneylenders. ‘This is particularly important as Christmas approaches,’added Jim. Since work started in the autumn of 2000, hundreds of bikes have been re-cycled and put back on the road.

‘Kids who have a bike and are trained to use it responsibly have a healthier life-style and are less likely to get into crime than kids who don’t have a bike,’ said April. ‘We are also helping the environment by doing this work which is faith led.’ Representatives of all the Churches Together in Castlemilk performed the formal opening of the project, which has now established a workshop where volunteers are trained in a sheltered atmosphere to mend the bikes. ‘We’re getting visitors from all over the country coming to see what we do so that they can consider doing the same thing in their area,’ commented Jim. ‘We didn’t win the final award but if another community is encouraged to start a similar project after hearing about us being nominated, we’ll be very happy.’

The couple didn’t actually cycle all the way from Scotland but borrowed the tandem of Telford charity fundraisers, Rita Taylor and Vince Evans of Just Bikes, for the picture taken just before the awards ceremony.

Community Can Cycle is also in line for another environmental award - the Green Apple Award - which will be decided in November and handed out in the Houses of Parliament. They have also been nominated for the Social Responsibility category of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce Business Awards which will be announced next March.

For further information about Community Can Cycle visit their new Website www.communitycancycle.org.uk