Rehoming Abandoned Bikes with Maidstone CAN and Making a Difference to Maidstone
Earlier this year, Taylor Edwards at Southeastern introduced us to a pile of abandoned bikes in storage at Maidstone West station.
In years gone by, these were passed on to the YMCA at Tonbridge, to support a scheme to allow young people to learn skills refurbishing the bikes, which were then sold to raise funds for YMCA projects.
The scheme closed in November 2023, a few on the bikes were already in the store before then, they’ve been joined by others since.
Working with Maidstone CAN, our station adopters we discovered that their volunteers could refurbish the bikes at their Maidstone Repair Cafe project, and teach others who would like to learn cycle maintenance skills.
The 29 bikes collected have all received a basic safety check. 15 were donated to Make a Difference to Maidstone for sale, raising funds to support their project work and getting bikes to people who need them for everyday transport. 10 will be refurbished by Maidstone CAN at the Maidstone Repair Cafe, offering the opportunity for visitors to the Repair Cafe to learn bike maintenance skills. Once refurbished they will be sold to support the project. Sadly 4 bikes were only fit for salvage and scrap.
We are looking to create a lasting relationship between Maidstone CAN and Southeastern to make sure unloved bikes find new homes at affordable prices, enabling more people to make sustainable travel choices for their everyday journeys.
