Rutland Armed Forces families receive free bikes from HMP Stocken and Rutland County Council project
Forces families have received free bikes from a restoration project which runs at HMP Stocken.
Inmates restored more than 100 bikes which were then gifted to families living at Kendrew Barracks in Cottesmore.
The Rutland My Bike project is delivered by the prison and Rutland County Council.
It sees old and damaged bicycles repaired and reconditioned by inmates so they can be given out free of charge to adults and children in Rutland who don’t have a bike of their own.
Many of the bikes come from local recycling centres and are reconditioned to full working order in the prison workshops.
Neil Walsh, a workshop instructor at HMP Stocken, said: "This is a really great project, not least for the people who receive a new bike.
"Some of our prisoners know nothing about bikes when they start working with us but will eventually come out with a City and Guilds certificate in cycle maintenance, which is a recognised qualification that can eventually help them into meaningful employment.
"They’re also very proud of the work they do.
"They put a huge amount effort into each restoration and you can really see what it means to them."
The bikes were presented to families at Cottesmore Academy on December 18. The event was attended by the High Sheriff of Rutland, Margaret Miles.
The bikes will allow parents and children to cycle to work and school on the base.
The Rutland My Bike project has been running since 2017 and has restored 476 bikes in that time, including some donated by Rutland Cycling and Oakham Cycle Centre.
The project has proven so successful that it won the best partnership category in last year’s Modeshift National Sustainable Travel Awards.
Rutland county councillor Lucy Stephenson (Con), who is responsible for transport, said: “My Bike has been a wonderful success story for Rutland and I’m so pleased at the number of people who are now benefitting.
"We handed out 19 bikes at our very first event way back in June 2017. To have come so far and be handing out our 450th bike here at Kendrew Barracks is just amazing. To be able to support our local Armed Forces Community, who sacrifice so much for us, makes this event doubly special and something we should all be really proud of.”
