Award-winning charity Sport Aberdeen was able to breathe life back into a number of bicycles belonging to a local children’s care home, completely free of charge, thanks to funding secured through the ‘Scotland Cycle Repair Scheme’. 

A total of five bikes from Barnardo’s Linksfield Residential Service, an established childcare service in partnership with Aberdeen City Council, were taken to Adventure Aberdeen’s bike workshop in Kingswells.

Adventure Aberdeen, part of registered charity Sport Aberdeen, was the first organisation in the city to sign up to the ‘Scotland Cycle Repair Scheme’, a free bike repair and maintenance service funded by the Scottish Government and delivered through Cycling UK. The scheme aims to remove barriers such as cost while encouraging active travel; allowing more people to take part in cycling through access to free bike maintenance. 

Graeme Dale, Sport Aberdeen Head of Sport and Active Communities said:

“After a hugely positive response, this is the second round of funding we have secured to deliver free maintenance to people in the north-east who may ordinarily struggle to gain access to bike servicing.

“Thank you so much to Adventure Aberdeen for the service. We are really happy that the bikes have been fixed and it means we can go for long bike rides and socialise with our friends.”

A young person from Linksfield Residential Service

“We are targeting this latest funding towards those who are really in need of the services and I’m absolutely delighted that we could help and breathe life into their five bikes. Sport Aberdeen has a responsibility as a Corporate Parent for these young people, so it is only right that we ensure that they have bikes in a condition that they are able to enjoy.

“A key aim of the scheme is to give more people of all ages access to safer cycling – encouraging participation in physical exercise, while educating people on the benefits of greener travel. Working with services such as Linksfield Residential Service underpins Sport Aberdeen’s commitment to breaking down barriers and creating opportunities for more people to get active, regardless of challenges they may have.”

Rebecca Christie, Linksfield Residential Service Senior Practitioner, said:

“We would like to extend a massive thanks to Sport Aberdeen, and the staff at Adventure Aberdeen.  It’s great to work in partnership and to have such a good service which will help to promote health and well-being for the young people we support.”