Bike team helping people gear up for the future
BBCTeam members at a Cornish bicycle repair project which gives people new skills while fixing spokes and sprockets say the scheme is transforming lives.
Cornwall Life Recycle in Camborne takes donations of old bicycles and brings them back to life.
The mechanics run courses in basic bicycle maintenance, as well as sessions for young people who are facing challenges in conventional education.
The aims of the project include reducing social isolation and building confidence, as well as helping with people's transport challenges.
The brightly-lit workshop on an industrial estate is a hive of activity, with dozens of bicycles in various stages of reconstruction and a strong whiff of WD-40 in the air.
Project manager Simon Rickett said these were busy times for the charity.
"We have gone from two or three students a week to up to 18 students a week coming in here," he said.
"In the 12 months I have been here everything has more than doubled, people through the door, bikes being sold, people learning to fix bikes, people learning what we do here."
The restored bicycles are sold at reduced rates or given away for free, sometimes to the person who had worked on them.
Carefully adjusting a stubborn derailleur, William, who is 14, said the Cornwall Life Recycle sessions had been great for him.
"The thing about this place is I get to work with my hands and I can learn more with my hands rather than sitting down and writing," he said.
"I've become more able to talk to people and not as anxious as I used to be."
Kelly Olive attends the maintenance sessions twice a week.
She said she was delighted to be able to service her son's bicycle.
"As a single mum, it is not a skill that you would normally have, so it makes you feel proud that you can produce something," she smiled.
"I've learnt how to get over my anxiety, connect with people and feel like I'm important and I fit in, so it does make you feel happy and safe."
Together with their partners, which include Cornwall Council, the Cornwall Life Recycle team hope to expand its work across the county in 2025, as well as supporting more Active Travel initiatives in Cornwall.
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