Charity scheme peddles a motivational message (From Worcester News)

Charity scheme peddles a motivational message

4:20pm Tuesday 15th September 2009

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A LOCAL charity is geared up to peddle its recycled cycles at the University of Worcester.

The university is launching its bike sale today, in partnership with Motov8.

The Motov8 cycle shop will be open every Wednesday, from noon to 2pm, on the university’s St John’s campus and will give students, staff and members of public the opportunity to buy refurbished bicycles and accessories.

In addition, Motov8 will offer its Dr Bike service, which will enable staff and students to get their bikes repaired and will also offer bicycle maintenance advice.

Katy Boom, the university’s head of sustainability and development, said: “The cycle shop will offer students the opportunity to choose a mode of transport that not only benefits their health, but is also extremely environmentally sustainable.

“We hope to build a culture of cycling at the university so that, eventually, buying a bicycle from Motov8 will be as much a part of freshers’ week as the student union’s poster sale.”

Motov8 is a Worcestershire-based charity that takes some of the county’s most disaffected and hard-to-reach young people and teaches them mechanical skills in addition to furthering their literacy and numeracy abilities.

Motov8’s managing director, Rev Mark Badger, said: “It started as a response to the needs of local people and has grown to become more vocational.

“But the project is still focusing on the moral and ethical needs of its participants by dealing with criminal and anti-social behaviour.”

One of Motov8’s most successful schemes is the Recycle project, which teaches participants to repair, recondition and re-sell unwanted bicycles.

Mr Badger said: “The programme is aimed at the more vulnerable participants, working on a one-to-one basis with the bicycle mechanic.

“This gives them a good grounding in basic mechanical skills, which not only helps them to achieve a vocational qualification but also teaches them valuable entrepreneurial skills.

“The project educates the participants of the importance of environmental sustainability and how to reduce waste of resources.”

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