Kids in seven remote Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory can now regularly experience the joy of free bikes – and learn important life skills too.
106 recycled bikes were last week delivered by Sydney-based social enterprise Revolve ReCYCLING in partnership with Indigenous NGO Wantu and other local Indigenous stakeholders.
The bikes, as well as dozens of scooters and repair tools that were delivered, were contributed by Sydneysiders and carefully restored by volunteers at Revolve ReCYCLING’s Alexandria workshop.
In the Territory communities, local partners will use the bikes to spread joy, encourage engagement such ad school attendance, and teach skills.
Locally-led plans include: holding bike maintenance workshops at schools; conducting cultural trips; building BMX tracks and organising races, and; providing training for future bike repair mechanics.
The bikes were delivered on an epic 11,000 kilometer drive by Revolve ReCYCLING Guido Verbist, General Manager, and Sienna Young, General Rockstar, who also worked on their redeployment.
“Every kid in Australia deserves the joy of a bike, and can learn a lot from a bike too,” said Guido.
“In the week after the referendum, it was great to be positive and practical, and get these redeployed bikes to the kids in the Northern Territory.”
“It’s very cool to collect kids’ bikes and scooters where they are no longer needed or wanted and get them to outback kids who definitely want them,” Sienna said.
Revolve ReCYCLING calls the practice “bike equity” and it has four-fold impact:
- helps the environment by keeping material out of landfill and cutting emissions;
- empowers disadvantaged kids;
- builds understanding between people, communities and cultures, and
- creates employment opportunities for disadvantaged people.’
Sienna, a young woman from Sydney, said the experience helped her better understand the challenges faced by outback communities, but also their resilience.
“For someone raised in Sydney and everything it offers, I saw how different it is for remote Indigenous communities where many kids don’t have access to things we take for granted – like bikes and scooters. I also learned how important it is to be hands-on about social justice, and it motivates me to do more in the future,” added Sienna.