Jingle (bike) bells! Police give cycles to students
SCHOOL HOPES TO CREATE CYCLING HUB
STUDENTS have been treated to early Christmas presents after being gifted bikes by Greater Manchester Police.
Thanks to a conversation between a police officer and teacher at the Co-op Academy Walkden, 17 bikes seized or found by police have been gifted to the school.
The original owners of the stolen bikes could not be found and they have been stored in police stations around Salford, but they have now found their way to the high school.
Sergeant Mark Livesey said: “It has been a pleasure for not only the Walkden South neighbourhood team, but the Salford division as a whole, to support this inspiring Walkden High bike initiative.
“As we have quite a number of bikes in storage around Salford police stations which had been seized or found with the owners not being traced, we were given permission from the Salford senior officers to donate a number of bikes to this worthy cause.
“We hope to continue working closely with the school and support this initiative in any way we can.”
Many of the bikes have been left in a state of disrepair and staff along with students will be trained on how to fix them. Once they are fixed and ready to ride, a library style system will be created for students to use the bikes to travel to and from the academy for a short period of time.
Kids will also be able to exchange their old bicycles with the new ones from the library and the academy hope to grow a large cycling hub that will encourage more pupils to ride to school.
Joshua Mangas, director of participation and engagement at the Co-op Academy Walkden said: “We can now help children that struggle to come to school because they live far away.
“It will give the kids something positive to do and when the library is up and running it will be something for them to be proud of too.
“We are delighted to have received these bikes, which will help students get to our academy.
“We are working with Cycling UK and Transport for Greater Manchester to establish a community cycling hub, with a view to setting up a bicycle library where children can borrow bikes on a temporary basis.”