Leuven (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Velo Leuven repurposes abandoned bikes, keeping them for 3 months before reuse. Facing resale challenges, they partnered with Père Justin in Madagascar, donating bikes for youth training in trades like bike repair.
Velo, a bicycle organization in Leuven, Belgium, has been taking abandoned bikes from the city for years. They keep these bikes for 3 months in case the owners want them back. If no one claims a bike, Velo tries to reuse it.
They used to fix up the bikes and rent them to students in Leuven, which was a good way to help the environment and give students a cheap way to get around. But Velo has gotten bigger, and now they have more bikes that are hard to fix. Officials mentioned that some bikes are still in good shape, but others need a lot of work, making it hard to get them back on the road.
How is Velo Leuven giving abandoned bikes a second life?
According to Dries Jansen, the head of Velo Leuven, even though many of these bikes are still good, it’s hard to find new homes for them. There are lots of cheap new bikes and used bikes for sale, so it’s hard for Velo to sell their fixed-up bikes at a good price.
Velo is looking for other ways to use these bikes so they don’t get thrown away. Officials mentioned that they are trying to find ways to give the bikes away, work with other groups, or come up with creative ways to reuse them.
About 6 months ago, Velo got in touch with Père Justin, a priest from Madagascar who runs a school and teaches skills to young people who don’t have much. Père Justin helps these young people learn trades like baking, sewing, working with metal, and fixing bikes.
He wants to give these young people a chance to have a good future. Père Justin knows that bikes can help people get around, learn new things, and find jobs. He asked Velo for help because it’s very hard to find bikes in Madagascar. Père Justin needs bikes for his project to be successful.
Velo was happy to help Père Justin because it solved a problem for them. They had lots of bikes that were still good, but they couldn’t sell them in Leuven because there were already so many bikes for sale. They mentioned that sending the bikes to Madagascar was a good way to use the bikes and help people there.
According to the officials, even bikes that weren’t perfect were good for Père Justin’s program because the students could learn how to fix bikes by taking them apart and putting them back together. This helps people in Madagascar get around, find jobs, and learn new things.
