One of the first deliveries ReBicycle EkeRua made to celebrate its reopening from the national lockdown was also one of the largest ever made to one family.

Six members  of one family – Myint Khing, Htoo Lwee, Phyin Eit Eit, Ngae Ngae,  Khing Lay Hytoo and Lwee Myint Htoo – were given a free, reconditioned, recycled bike. 

The smiling family (pictured), who live in Porirua, came as refugees from Myanmar to Aotearoa five years ago. 

 “This is what ReBicycle EkeRua is all about – helping families improve their lives, get out on bikes, and have fun,” ReBicycle EkeRua co-ordinator Tessa Coppard said.

“The lockdown has taught everyone the importance of biking for multiple reasons – fun, family time, exercise, health and transport. “

Myint Khing said the family would use the bikes for recreation, visiting relatives and friends, and going to school. 

ReBicycle EkeRua reopened its workshop for fixing donated bikes with the move to Level 2 under restrictions and with a strict safety plan.

Tessa says that with a good prospect of Aotearoa moving to Level 1 soon, the workshop will hopefully again be open to all-comers. 

“It’s great we are already back to renovating bikes and getting them out to families who need them, so they can enjoy the same kind of fun many of us have had during the lockdown.”

Learn to ride and improve confidence, learn road rules and practise basic bike maintenance with qualified women instructors from Pedal Ready and WACC (Workshops for Accessible Cycle Care)
These workshops are for women from a migrant, former refugee or low-income background, (and their friends!).

When/Where	Newtown (Join the Facebook event)	Naenae (Join the Facebook event)
August	Saturday 10th 10am-12noon	Saturday 24th 10am-12noon
September	Saturday 14th 10am-12noon	Saturday 28th 10am-12noon
October	Saturday 12th 10am-12noon	Saturday 26th 10am-12noon
November	Saturday 9th 10am-12noon	Saturday 23rd 10am-12noon

Newtown sessions will be held at The Mechanical Tempest workshop:

• 224-234 Riddiford St, Newtown, Wellington

Naenae sessions will be held at Treadwell Hall and Rata St School:

• Treadwell Hall, 25 Treadwell St, Naenae, Lower Hutt – August, September and November
• Rata St School, 73 Rata St, Naenae, Lower Hutt – October only

All sessions are free to attend and you’re welcome to come along to one all four.

Bikes and helmets can be provided for learners – please let us know if you need one so we have the right sizes.

We will also have some activities for children.

For more information, please email us: rebicyclewgtn@gmail.com or message on @ReBicycleWellington

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Thanks to our sponsors and supporters:

    

      

Press Release – March 2019

Newtown charity celebrates 1000th donated bike

Wellington charity ReBicycle EkeRua is quietly celebrating this week after it received the 1000th donated bike since the project started in 2016. Of those about 650 have been fixed up and given to former refugees, migrants and others in the community, while about 30 are part of the ‘bike library’ which is leant to adults trying bike commuting, students doing cycle skills or for family events.

The Newtown bike workshop, located at 230 Riddiford St (the old petrol station) has had a stunning year since the doors opened at the beginning of 2018. Mechanical Tempest and ReBicycle EkeRua share the workshop space which is generously provided rent-free by the owners.

Mechanical Tempest is a volunteer-run community bike workshop. The site in Newtown has given them the opportunity to help hundreds of people from all over the region gain bicycle maintenance skills and get their bikes road-ready.  The workshop has been consistently busy all year with four open evenings each week.

ReBicycle EkeRua has also had a busy year, running over 60 fix up events at the workshop and a dozen kids bike rodeo and family events around the Wellington region.

Coordinator Tessa Coppard says, “The rodeo events are a great opportunity for us to connect with the community and help kids to improve their cycling skills while checking their bikes are safe. We often see those same children in schools when we drop off our library bikes to support cycle skills training or out and about on bikes that we’ve given them. It’s great to see the independence and confidence it gives them”.

 

Tessa added that “Everything we do is made possible by our generous supporters and an awesome team of volunteers”. Helmets are donated by the Wellington City Council, to those who need them and locks or accessories are bought with proceeds from bike sales or donations.

Last year ReBicycle added EkeRua to their name; this name was given to them by Dr Vini Olsen-Reeder and means ‘to jump on a bike again’.

“We’re incredibly grateful for this name and feel it reflects our kaupapa perfectly” says trustee, Mike Townsend. “Eke can also mean to achieve or overcome, and that’s certainly what we see when people come in and learn to fix their own bikes, or kids learn to ride, or former refugees have been given a bike to help them go to courses or work”.

Together the two organisations want to thank the owners of the site, and also Wellington City Council and all the community groups who have collaborated on events for all their support this year.

We’ve come out the other end of the bike silly season feeling a bit more relaxed, inspired and energized to do more!

Between February and early April we organised or supported events from Upper Hutt in the north, to Strathmore Park in the south. Bike the Trail, The ReMakery big bike fix up, our own events at Carrara Park, Newtown and Kahurangi School, Strathmore, supporting Neighbours Day in Newtown, Community dinner at Vogelmorn, the International Women’s Day event in Kilbirnie, lots of library bikes coming and going to schools around the region for cycle skills training, and lots of bike fix ups at our Newtown hub.

Somewhere in the midst of it we received some recognition at the Love Cycling awards.

While winter may be quiet on the event front, we will be continuing with our weekly workshops at 230 Riddiford St, Newtown. Open every Wednesday from 6-8pm. Come along and volunteer your time or skills to help fix up bikes for our growing waitlist. Mechanical Tempest will soon have regular opening hours in the same space, so keep an eye on their updates, if you have a bike project of your own you’d like to work on.

RESCHEDULED!
Now on this ***Saturday*** the 18th March, from 10am – 1pm.

Our first public outing with the Bike KREW Rodeo is coming up soon as part of Celebrate Newtown – Newtown Festival in association with ReBicycle Wellington and supported by the Wellington City Council Communities on Bikes Fund.

Saturday March 18th, 10am -1pm at Carrara Park, Regent St, Newtown.

 

October 15th, 2016, Kahurangi School

WCC and Mechanical Tempest hosted a Bike Fix up, while Pedal Ready entertained kids with an obstacle course outside.

26th November, Lyall Bay

Bike fix up with Mechanical Tempest and other volunteers.