GTR’s abandoned bikes transform lives for adults with learning difficulties

Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) is using bikes abandoned at its railway stations to help people with learning difficulties gain new skills and build their independence.

The company has given nearly 40 bikes to TAG Bikes workshop, based in Huntingdon Community Centre. The two van-loads of machines, delivered from GTR’s Letchworth depot, had been left at stations on the Thameslink and Great Northern routes and unclaimed by their owners after several months in storage.

TAG’s enthusiastic team of 15 adults with learning difficulties, under the supervision of an employment skills worker qualified as a bike mechanic, is now servicing and repairing the machines to re-sell and raise money. The cash will be ploughed back into the charity, run by Cambridgeshire County Council as part of its Supporting into Work programme.

GTR donated nearly 50 bikes to TAG back in 2018 after its distribution manager heard they’d put out an appeal in the local media. The bikes are sold at affordable prices to people in the local community. The money raised has already paid for computer equipment and a television for the workshop, as well as parts to fix more bikes.

Thameslink and Great Northern Customer Services Director Jenny Saunders said: "A surprising number of bikes get left on our network, so we’re delighted to make partnerships with charities and local authorities who run schemes to make them roadworthy again. Our support means these community projects can help local people gain new skills and work experience, and provide an affordable way for more people to enjoy the health and environmental benefits of cycling. It’s a real win-win-win all round, and we’ve now donated well over 1,000 bikes to schemes across the South East."

Cllr Susan van de Ven, vice chair of Cambridgeshire County Council’s Adults and Health Committee, said: “The bike donations we receive are vital to the success of TAG Bikes and helping the development of our learners.

“I’d like to thank GTR for its generous support which will help this brilliant community initiative and allow us to get more people with learning disabilities into work and to improve their independence.”

ends

Notes to editors

To speak to Cambridgeshire County Council’s communications team, call 01223 699281.

About TAG Bikes

This not-for-profit project has been running since 2018 and has worked with 25 learners, of whom seven have so far been supported successfully into a mixture of both paid and voluntary work placements.

See: https://www.facebook.com/TagBikesHuntingdonCommunity

Bikes abandoned at stations

Govia Thameslink Railway stores bikes that have been abandoned at Great Northern and Thameslink stations at its distribution centre in Letchworth. Many are in surprisingly good condition and can be made safe and roadworthy cost effectively. Bikes are kept for a minimum of three months, in the hope that they can be reunited with their owner, before being donated to recycling projects.