TH Council donates abandoned bikes to help upskill Mile End residents

Cllr Maium Talukdar and Nurull Islam with council officers

London, 2 Decmber: Tower Hamlets Council has donatedbikes and cycle parts to Mile End Community Project for use in its project toteach bike mechanic skills to residents.

The council recently launched aproject to remove abandoned bikes from the borough’s streets. Many of thesebikes are in poor condition, look unsightly and are blocking the pavement, orlocked to street lighting columns preventing access for maintenance work.

To date, 19 bikes and 3 bikewheels have been removed as part of the project. Officers didn’t want todispose of two adult bikes, a child’s bike and two cycle wheels that were inusable condition.

Instead, they contacted Mile EndCommunity Project, which runs a scheme called On Yer Bike, designed to empowerlocal people with bike mechanic skills, create employment opportunities andaddress some of the inequalities in cycling, to see if they could put them togood use.

The team now has an agreement todonate future usable bikes and cycle parts to the charity to help local peopleupskill and learn new skills in how to fix a bike.

Cllr Maium Talukdar,Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Education and Lifelong Learning, said: “Not only is our bike removalproject clearing up our streets of clutter, but by donating the usable cycleswe are helping local people to learn and practice new skills.

“It was great to visit Mile EndCommunity Project and see first-hand the fantastic work they are doing as partof On Yer Bike as well as their creative projects.”

Nurull Islam, Founder ofMile End Community Project, said: “This is a great example of whatyou can achieve when combining resources and collaborative working. On Yer Bikehas been running since 2019 and has donated over 90 bikes to a diverse range ofpeople of all ages.

“The project continues to growwith many different organisations wanting to learn more about our approach andhow it can be replicated in their area. It gives me a lot of happiness to knowthat we’re making a difference to the lives of people in Mile End and hopefullyother neighbourhoods in Tower Hamlets.”

On Yer Bike has also distributedhundreds of cycling safety equipment, including helmets, bike light andreflectors, and inspected over 300 bikes in partnership with Dr Bike andprovided 72 Santander cycling codes to people in the community, who havecarried out nearly 4,000 journeys, averaging 55 trips per person.

Mile End Community Projectdelivers a range of social and educational activities, focusing on creativitythrough film production, art and media projects. The organisation also providessporting, recreational and lifelong learning opportunities for Tower Hamletsresidents who may not otherwise engage due to social, cultural, racial oreconomic challenges. To find out more about Mile End Community Project visit http://www.mileendcommunityproject.org/

Cyclists are encouraged to onlyuse bike locking stands and storage and not to lock their bikes to railings orlampposts or they risk being removed. Once a bike has been removed, a notice isfixed to the post within 24 hours of removal advising of its removal and how toclaim ownership. The council stores bikes for a minimum of 14 days beforedonating or destroying it.

Residents are encouraged toreport abandoned bikes to the council for removal via the website at: www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/reportit