3:00pm Saturday 19th May 2012
A charity in Malmesbury is helping offenders find a new purpose by involving them in preparing bikes to be sent to Africa.
Hullavington-based Jole Rider, which repairs unwanted bikes and has to date sent more than 10,000 of them out to help students living in isolated areas to get to school, has called on the efforts of the Wiltshire Probation team.
Between three and eight people referred by the probation service go along each Wednesday to work with the charity, helping to refurbish the bikes.
David Swettenham, co-founder of Jole Rider, said: “It’s all about man-power. To have several guys come to work a full day each week is a tremendous help.” The charity recently heard that two Gambian students were awarded scholarships by the president of Gambia, having become the first students from rural areas to have achieved top marks across the curriculum.
Their success was not only put down to their hard work, but to the Jole Rider bikes that enabled them to get to class.
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