Coronavirus: Shropshire charity to give free bicycles to NHS staff and other key workers

Shropshire Cycle Hub is giving bikes to volunteers, staff from the NHS and other key workers that need transport or want to use them for their daily exercise throughout the coronavirus pandemic.

Based in Belle Vue Road, Shrewsbury, the recently-formed community organisation is run by more than volunteers who refurbish old bicycles and provide them to those in need.

Members of the hub also promote community participation in cycling as sustainable transport and healthy recreation.

Chairman of the trust, Mark Fermor, said the group will support the positive community response to the virus as much as it can.

He said: "Communities across Shropshire are responding to calls to volunteer right now to help deliver food, medicine and other essentials, and Shropshire Cycle Hub will support this Covid-19 response effort as far as we can by providing free cycles to anyone who needs them.

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"Any volunteer or NHS staff or other essential worker who wants to get a cycle can contact us.

"We've already had nine or 10 health workers contact us in the first 24 hours.

"They're saying first of all that they are currently struggling to get to work as public transport options aren't there so much now. But also we want to enable them to do that travel part of the day in a more healthy way which gives them the chance to incorporate exercise into their lives.

"We have about 20 bikes currently ready to go and about another 20 we're working on, so enough to get a decent fleet of bikes out there to begin with."

Mark added that safe and secure collections which follow government guidelines on social distancing can be made from the hub's workshop.

Key workers wanting a bike should contact the charity with their name, address, gender and height.

For more information, contact Mark at shropshirecyclehub@gmail.com or 07976 800730.