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Thousands of ex-Royal Mail bikes once destined for the scrapheap have been shipped out of Stoke-on-Trent to Africa – where they are transforming the lives of villagers.
Not too long ago the red Pashley Mailstar bike was a familiar sight around Britain, as it was commonly used by postal workers across the nation to deliver letters and parcels.
But Royal Mail took the decision to phase out the bikes completely by 2014 – and instead donate 20,000 top quality bikes to Longton-based charity Cycle of Good, which sent thousands of them to Malawi.
However, after an elephant took an intense dislike to a bright red ex-Royal Mail bike being ridden across the African reserve, all the bikes were repainted in more soothing shades of bush green.
Now most of the ‘Elephant Bikes’, as the ex-Royal Mail stock are now known, are sold in the UK – with the proceeds then helping to cover shipping costs to send the bikes on to Africa.
Cycle of Good operations manager Zoe Kasiya, aged 43, of Meir Park, said: “Royal Mail bikes were being ridden by park rangers, an elephant saw them, didn’t like it and charged. The bike didn’t make it, it was trampled, but the ranger did.
“After that, the park owner asked if we could spray the bikes a more bush-friendly colour, so now our Elephant Bikes are painted in three shades of green. He said the elephants didn’t take too kindly to red.
“We did ask a zoologist about it, and it turns out elephants are colour-blind, but to their eyes, red is a darker shade of grey.”
Since the charity was founded in 2007, a total of 74,798 bikes have been donated and shipped across the world. A total of 21,798 bikes have gone to Malawi, with the rest sent to overseas projects in Asia and Africa.
In addition to the Elephant Bikes, thousands of ordinary road bikes have been donated by cycle clubs and individuals.
Bikes sent to Malawi are refurbished by African workers – providing them with jobs – before being sold on. In addition, workers in Malawi have been designing items including purses, wallets and bags, made using donated inner tubes from bikes, which are sold in the UK by Cycle of Good.
The Elephant Bikes, meanwhile, are serviced at Cycle of Hope’s factory in Longton before being sold to cyclists across the UK.
Ex-Bentley worker and mountain biker Stan Jones, aged 62, of Bucknall, said: “We rebuild them, refurbish all the parts, give them new brake cables to make sure everything is safe.
“The quality of the bike is very good. It’s a good, hard-wearing bike, as you would imagine with them being used by Royal Mail. They will last another 20 to 30 years at least.”
In addition to donations of bikes, Cycle of Good also buys JCB machinery at a discounted price from the Staffordshire digger-maker, which it then rents out to overseas businesses to generate income.
Profits have so far been used in Malawi to build a children’s centre, which supports around 2,000 vulnerable children at any one time, a primary school and a secondary school, with a second primary school currently being built.
Plans are also in place to build an IT training and business college, and a university.
Charity business manager Kelly Shenton, aged 43, of Blyth Bridge, said: “In Malawi the roads are shocking and no-one can afford a car. The bikes really are transforming lives. People use them to get around, to run small businesses, taking baskets to market, to pick up goods and to take the kids to school.
“We’ve been told the most common things seen in the baskets are chickens, charcoal and children.
“There’s an amazing story of a gentleman who produces hot sauce. He got a bike and used it to take his products to market. Now every time he does well, he adopts a child.”
For every Pashley Mailstar Elephant Bike sold in the UK, Cycle of Good will send another donated bike to Malawi. Elephant Bikes have a recommended retail price of £644.99, but are sold by the charity for £280, which includes a parcel tray and basket.
For more information about Elephant Bikes and the Cycle of Good charity, go to www.cycleofgood.com.
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