Hotel helps make a wheel difference (From Keighley News)
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Hotel helps make a wheel difference
2:48pm Thursday 23rd August 2012 in Keighley By Miran Rahman
Tim Ordway (left), a project key worker with Barnardo’s Bikes, is joined by staff from the project and Hilton Hotel workers
Hotel staff were given a practical demonstration of how a Keighley-based recycling and training project is helping local teenagers.
The representatives from the Bradford Hilton visited Barnardo’s Bikes, in Oakworth Road.
The hotel has chosen Barnardo’s as one of the groups it is supporting for this financial year. It is carrying out fundraising work for the charity and will present it with the proceeds in March next year.
Barnardo’s Bikes, in Springfield Mills, is a scheme for unemployed people aged 16 to 18, who repair old bikes. Bikes which cannot be fixed are recycled for spare parts.
The young learners are also taught basic bike maintenance, administration and business skills and gain qualifications in maths, English and information technology. All the repaired and recycled bikes are sold, with the proceeds going back into the project.
The visitors from the Hilton included the hotel’s manager and deputy manager. They and their colleagues brought with them five bikes which they donated to the scheme.
As well as being part of the Hilton’s commitment to Barnardo’s, the visit was linked to the hotel’s own Bright Blue Futures youth initiative and also coincided with International Young Person’s Week.
Suzi Campbell, community fundraising volunteer manager for Barnardo’s, said: “We’re not unaffected by what is happening with the economic climate, so every extra bit of help makes a massive difference.”
Samantha Wood, HR officer for the Bradford Hilton, said: “I think this is a great scheme. It gives young people qualifications and gets them doing something which they enjoy. Bikes are the in thing at the moment thanks to the Olympics and Bradley Wiggins winning the Tour de France.”
Barnardo’s Bikes project worker Laura Hairsine said the group is currently working with nine young people but aims to recruit more in the near future.
“It’s not just about the bikes, we also do skills development and help the young people look for apprenticeships and jobs,” she said.
