Not a bike project, a project that supports people’s inclusion and integration – Bikes for Refugees

Summary: <br> <br> <br> <br> This episode features Steven McCluskey, the founder of the Bikes for Refugees Charity, which if you follow them on twitter, seems to be growing arms and legs or should that be pedals and chains?<br> Bikes for refugees started through a meeting that included Steven, a young gentleman from Syria called Yaman and what Steven describes as a bike shaped object.<br> Transcript<br> K: I’m here with Stephen McCluskey the founder of bikes for refugees, hi Steven!<br> S: Hi there.<br> K: Stephen, standard question what’s on your mind?<br> S: What’s on my mind? Well, let me tell you a story. A story about Bikes For Refugees Scotland and how that came about. A story about a young man that I met 3 years ago. A young gentleman from Syria who was a refugee called Yaman.<br> And Yaman had arrived in the UK in Edinburgh pretty much with no more than the clothes on his back and I think it was fair to say he was alone, afraid, a bit uncertain of what the future may bring having left his family and many of his loved ones back home in war-torn Syria thousands of miles away.<br> Not long after arriving in Edinburgh Yaman bought himself a beat-up old bike from Gumtree for 10 or 15 quid just to help himself get around and explore his new surroundings.<br> The only problem was that the bike was more of a bike shaped object than a working bicycle that was actually capable of getting him anywhere. So I and my partner Beth way took Yaman down to our local bike shop to see if we could get it fixed up and get him on the road.<br> To cut a long story short the bike was not worth repairing but the guy who ran the bike shop very kindly gifted a bike to Yaman and over the next couple of weeks and couple of months I just noticed how such a simple thing as a bike really made a big difference to Yaman. It just helped him save money, it helped him to settle into his new home and explore his surroundings and I suppose two things crossed my mind.<br> One was could there be any other people out there like the guy in the bike shop who was kind and generous enough to donate a bike to Yaman? And were there other refugees and asylum seekers out there who, like Yaman would also benefit from having access to a bike?<br> So one night sitting in the house I thought I would test that out and bikes for refugees was launched on Facebook. And fast forward two and a half, three years and we’ve now had over 600 bikes donated. Nearly 585 has been refurbished and distributed to refugees and asylum seekers across Scotland. Mostly across the Central Belt.<br> Our biggest demand for bikes is actually in Glasgow but also in Edinburgh as well. And people tell us that the user bikes for a whole range of things. So they use their bikes for – kids used bikes for cycling to school, to college, to university, to access essential language classes. People use bikes to access volunteering and work opportunities, to access essential health services, meetings with the home office and lawyers.<br> And people also use their bikes to come together and meet new people and make new friends.<br> So in Glasgow, we have a cycling group. We try and link people up. A lot of asylum seekers and refugees particularly in Glasgow can be quite isolated as well. So bikes help to bring people together. So that’s bikes for refugees.<br> K: And what’s Yaman doing now?<br> S: Yaman? Yes, Yaman was very much the inspiration behind the project. He is still living in Edinburgh. He has made his new home here. He is settled. He has many friends. I suppose he is probably as happy as he could be under the circumstances. His parents and his family are still back in Damascus. They were too old to flee. When Yaman actually left Syria and Damascus, he left with his sister. He was separated I believe, from his sister at the Syrian border. He’s now been reunited with Buthaina his sister who also now lives in Edinburgh w...