Pedals for People, a joint project of the Guelph Community Health Centre, Guelph 2000, Community Assets, Onward Willow and the Guelph Police and city engineering department, collected used bikes, repaired them, and donated them to low income families in the Onward Willow neighbourhood. This unique collaboration began as a recycling idea in the summer of ‘95 and by January of ‘96, ParticipACTION had agreed to support the project with $3,500. A lack of
affordable and reliable transportation The Onward Willow/Better Beginnings Better Futures organization then contributed $2,500 to hire a Coordinator. Three volunteer mechanics were recruited and the first bike collection campaign began. The group hoped to collect 50 - 100 bikes on that chilly Saturday in May. Instead, over 600 used bikes appeared at the Guelph Police Station. Newspaper articles attracted inquiries from Fergus, Toronto, London and the Niagara area about how to get some of those 600 bikes to fix and distribute in their own communities. Residents in other Guelph neighbourhoods asked about participating in the project and later attended the working group meetings. "We started on a small scale, " said Barb McPhee, Project Coordinator. "If it worked out, we imagined going city wide. Although the focus was on kids, we were looking for bikes for everyone." Residents
who participated in the project Guelph’s United Way Social Planning Council had identified a lack of affordable and reliable transportation as one of the problems facing people trying to find work. "If someone couldn’t get to a job because they couldn’t afford the bus ticket, cab fare or their own car, they weren’t going to get around on a regular basis," Guelph 2000 board member Evan Ferrari said. "Bicycles could help solve this problem. And the environmental benefits were obvious, since people needing cheap transportation could use these recycled bikes rather older, heavily polluting cars." Pedals for People also meant that people would get more exercise. "Biking is an excellent form of exercise," said Mike Dupuis of the Guelph Community Health Centre. "And this project was a great way to inform people about bike safety and the importance of wearing helmets." Residents who participated in the project applied for a reconditioned, safe bike along with a helmet and bike lock. They also had to agree to take a safe cycling course but lack of funds made it impossible to offer the course to adults. The Re-Use Market, the city’s waste department, and the Guelph Police bicycle and traffic safety program lent volunteer support to the project. People who would benefit from the program by receiving a bicycle were asked to volunteer to help collect, repair and distribute the bikes and help the educational side of the project. At a police bicycle safety rodeo in June of ‘96, project volunteers distributed bikes and helmets to 45 children living in the Willow, Waverley and Brant neighbourhoods. A further 150 bikes were sent to a non-profit group in Toronto which was looking for bicycles for English as a Second Language students to ride to classes. "We had such a good response that we ended up with a lot more bikes than we had demand for," said Barb McPhee. "We were happy to send some to Toronto." Guelph Hydro stepped in and offered indoor storage space and the Childhope Foundation of Canada donated space to repair the remaining bikes. Fifty helmets were distributed to adults living in Onward Willow in October and 50 bikes followed in the spring of ‘97. Over the winter, Childhope Foundation set up a bike repair course and five people completed it and a bike mechanic was hired with a Canada Employment grant to repair the remaining bikes for the spring give-away. The pilot project ended in May of ‘97 but because there were still assets in the project they were taken over by four community members called the "Pedals for People Working Group". Barb McPhee was one of them - and she still is, almost a year later. "I feel
good, because this project is still "The Childhope Foundation opened a Bike Recycling Centre," says Barb, "and I got a job managing it. They gave us one service bay for community members and we could buy parts at low prices or work off the cost in volunteer time. Unfortunately, the centre closed because the rent was too high and we were left with no place to go." "I cried when we had to close down because of lack of space," says Barb. "I had just had a call from a man who said he had collected 12 bikes and wanted to donate them. So I took them." "I’m working out of my basement now," she laughs. "I hooked my partner into helping and he has learned how to fix the remaining bikes. In the last while, we have given two bikes to the Etobicoke Better Beginnings Project, two to a Multicultural Centre, and two more to a Boys’ Home in Guelph." "It’ll be a shame if this project has to die because we can’t find a space to store the bikes. Times are hard. People need bikes to get back and forth. But for now, I feel good, because this project is still alive and in the hands of the community." Related Web Links:
|