MP Hannah Bardell visiting us
Bikes for refugees
Recently we were able to work with two teenagers from Ukraine who are being sponsored by a local family in Livingston. Both their parents remain in Ukraine. The teenagers were so delighted to receive their donated bikes from the West Lothian Bike Library, they made a FaceTime call straight to their parents to show them the bikes, there and then!
This takes us to 11 bikes donated to our Ukrainian friends in recent months. We also recently held a pop-up shop for refugees at our Crofthead base in Livingston, and are busy preparing more refurbished bikes. Each bike goes out with a new cycle helmet & lock (with funding support from West Lothian Council), a copy of the West Lothian Spokes Map and a Cycling Scotland Essential Cycling Skills booklet.
When the teenagers collected their bikes from our workshop this week, our volunteers present had a great sense of satisfaction. Whether it is our Ukrainian guests, referrals from support services or giving bikes to Primary Schools, we can only do this thanks to everyone who contributes to our project in so many ways. Thank you to every single supporter!
As always, please get in touch if you are interested in finding out more.
Dr Bike in Kirknewton sunshine
West Lothian Bike Library volunteers had an enjoyable day at Kirknewton Pavilion on Saturday 18th September, delivering another Dr Bike session in beautiful sunshine. Thanks to all those who came along and to Debbie for lunch !
You can keep up with all our activity on our Facebook feed. Remember to get in touch if you’d like the West Lothian Bike Library to run a Dr Bike or other bike library activities in your community!
Inclusive summer cycling!
We were delighted to support with our adapted bike fleet! #inclusivecycling
All Ability Cycling continues to grow
At the West Lothian Bike Library, one of our core services is the loan of adaptive bikes to support all ability cycling. These specialist bikes can be used by people who have additional mobility needs.
Our fleet continues to expand thanks to funding from Cycling Scotland. You can read about it in this article at bikebiz – thanks for the coverage, we appreciate it!
As always, Get in touch if you’d like to enquire about loaning any of our adaptive bikes.
Free family cycling training
West Lothian Bike Library is delighted to be taking part in Cycling Scotland’s free family cycling sessions.
The sessions are for families who wish to cycle together with more confidence – they are designed to provide parents/guardians with the skills and confidence to cycle together safely as a group and the whole family is encouraged to attend. The module lasts 2.5 hours and is tailored to meet the needs of the family.
Register your place at the Cycling Scotland website – there are a limited number of spaces available until June, so book today! Head to https://www.cycling.scot/what-we-do/training/essential-cycling-skills
Cycling, coffee and cargo bikes!
Cyclists’ love of coffee is well known. West Lothian Bike Library were delighted to provide Castaway Coffee in Livingston Village with a bike stand as it has fast become a favourite with walkers and people on bikes.
What’s more, the stand was transported sustainably on our new cargo bike and trailer.
The cafe also stocks Spokes West Lothian & Livingston Cycle Maps if you need some more walking and cycling inspiration!
Community groups are welcome to enquire about loan of our cargo bike, which was funded by SEStran. As always, get in touch!
And the (bike) bells are ringing out…..
We continue to be as busy as ever at the West Lothian Bike Library, and our minds are turning to Christmas! Thanks to the fantastic generosity of a member of the public, we have a brand new bike to give away to a deserving youngster this Christmas.
This Cannondale Kids Cujo 20inch bike is suitable for ages 5 to 8 (boy or girl). The traction and comfort of its big plus-size tires and its light, agile feel make the Cujo 20 the best way to learn trail riding skills with fewer spills.
We invite you to make a nomination for a worthy recipient. Tell us by email:
- the name & age of the child, contact details of parent or guardian (or referrer/nomination source if relevant)
- why you are nominating this child for the bike (the important bit)
- and for fun, what you think this child might say if they got a bike from Santa!
Please send your nominations to info@wlbikelibrary.co.uk. Entries close 30th November, and nominations will judged by Councillor Kirsteen Sullivan and Helen McCafferty, Board Member of the West Lothian Bike Library.
You can find more details of the bike here. Get your nominations in, with bells on!
Scotland cycle repair scheme – UPDATE
***UPDATE 6TH AUGUST***
We have had 120 bikes booked in as part of the Scotland Cycle Repair Scheme in just over 3 days since it launched on 3rd August. We’re now going to work our way through these bike repairs with our small team. Sadly we can’t accept any more bookings at the moment. Thanks to everyone for your support!
***ORIGINAL POST 3RD AUGUST***
The West Lothian Bike Library is delighted to be participating in the Scotland Cycle Repair Scheme. You can get £50 off bike repairs with the scheme, one per person. No need for a voucher, the money comes off your repair bill at participating bike outlets.
The scheme is aimed at helping people who might not be able to afford bike repairs normally. Hopefully it will help more people to get back on their bikes and reap the benefits of fresh air, exercise and an affordable way to travel!
Contact us by email to book your bike in, details here. Bookings subject to availability.
Key worker impacts and our ‘not-so-new’ normal
The upsurge in cycling during the Covid-19 lockdown is well-documented across the UK. At the West Lothian Bike Library, we’ve seen a surge in enquiries about cycling and accessing bikes – particularly from people needing to get to work with public transport reduced. In total we provided 47 free bike hires which are still out and performed 15 services/repairs.
We have been lucky to have secured some specific Key Worker funding throughout this period from the Big Bike Revival, National Lottery and the Cora Foundation. We are also very grateful to everyone out there who has donated bikes to us for refurbishment and loan to Key Workers.
What’s next? Currently we are engaged with delivering Bikeability at the Summer Key Worker Hubs being run by the Council’s CLD Youth services at Linlithgow, Bathgate & Livingston. As always, we continue our core work of bike servicing and repairs, loan of bikes including adaptive bikes, and inclusive cycling advice for all to benefit from.
Please continue to donate any bikes you no longer need, and don’t forget you can support us with a PayPal donation via our website. Thank you to everyone.
