At the end of November Drovers Cycles  kindly offered a day of cycle repair to  Space4U participants. Sam, Ruth and Jenny came from Cardiff with 10 young people seeking sanctuary and were shown how to repair and maintain a bike by Anna, Luke, Andy, Paige and Eleanor.  There was active and enthusiastic participation and a fun day was had by all. HBTSR was  represented by Steve, Brian, Rachel, Dante, Simon and Sean . Food  was kindly donated by  Thom,Martin and Steve from PGL Tregoyd and Alex the baker supplied cakes in addition to some catering from Anna at Drovers.  Everyone helped with servicing all the bikes and in the end the owners were chosen by drawing numbers from a hat. Steve reported that the new cycle owners were very pleased with their bikes and set off on a tour of Hay to test them.

Today Wednesday 13th December we were able to reunite the bikes with their owners at Space4U. Miv kindly agreed to transport them and we could hardly have found a better person as he is very familiar with bikes and easily able to remove front wheels to get the bikes into the van and crucially, on arrival, able to  ensure the wheels went back on, the brakes were working and the seats were the correct height. But I’m getting ahead of myself- We had spent a few days trying to work out  a mutually convenient time and then the snow came…Wednesday brought a thaw, rain and great anticipation. We arrived at Drovers at 10.30 to meet Anna and Luke and the bikes. Several cycle helmets were also donated which was a great bonus. Anna commented upon how much they had enjoyed the day but  hoped to repeat the experience in slightly better weather.

We set off with a full van and apart from torrential rain had an uneventful journey. We arrived, were able to park right outside and were met and welcomed by excited people.

Ruth and Jenny had ensured that they had bike locks and lights and reflectors ready and the list of owners. The bikes were quickly transported into the old church building and reassembled. The sense of excitement was palpable. A spoke for them all when he said ‘today, I am very lucky’. G sat with her bike almost unable to take her eyes  and hands off it . They were delighted to have photos taken and Ruth told me that they were now keeping photos of all bikes as this has sometimes helped when stolen.

More cycles in need of some TLC have been offered and Steve has agreed to store them at Tregoyd PGL until we can have another day at Drovers. We’d be delighted to have more bikes. When public transport costs so much a bike is a great asset as well as being good for health.

Thanks to all who donated bikes, to Drovers for making it possible for people to service them  and have a great day out and to Miv for taking them to Cardiff.  Thanks to Space4U for support and a great coffee and cake.A great pre Christmas treat.