6 July 2023. We are looking back on the 2nd Anniversary of Welcome Wheels, celebrated at South Parade Pier. Sustrans set this project up in partnership with Portsmouth City of Sanctuary and Southsea Cycles to support volunteers from the national initiative Action Asylum. WBI bridge-funded the project last year before long term funding arrived.
With friends, collaborators and volunteers from Sustrans and Action Asylum, we celebrated Welcome Wheels with meaningful community action: a beach clean, followed by a bonfire and cakes at South Parade Pier.
Since the project was launched in Portsmouth two years ago, it has provided over 70 migrants with donated bikes. Along with the bikes the riders have received road safety training from Adrian Saunders of Top Banana Cycling, who has generously donated his time.
In November-December 2022, WBI provided bridge funding to cover the maintenance cost of making the bikes road worthy and essential cycling gears before long-term funding was secured for the project.
It is brilliant to see one of the local businesses, Southsea Cycles join Sustrans, Action Asylum, Portsmouth City of Sanctuary and Top Banana Cycling to continue this venture.
Newcomers to our community benefit from having greater mobility around the city, especially during a cost-of-living crisis. In this article from Sustrans, Mustafa, one of the volunteers spoke about the difficulty of getting around as an asylum-seeker on a weekly allowance of £9.10 per week:
“Before I had to walk everywhere, sometimes I used a bus. But one way bus travel is £2 so I can only afford to use a bus two times and the £9 pocket money I have for the week is finished.”
“Welcome Wheels helped me by giving me a bicycle. I use it to go for volunteering and meet my friends.
Through Welcome Wheels asylum-seekers like Mustafa have been able to access education and training and engage in volunteering activities, which has made a massive difference to their physical and mental well-being.
We are thrilled to see the positive impact of this project on participants and our local community. We celebrate the wonderful collaboration between local charities and businesses to promote the volunteering spirit, create community cohesion and contribute to the environment.
Thank you Sustrans, Action Asylum, Portsmouth City of Sanctuary, Southsea Cycles and Top Banana Cycling. Finally, if you live in or near Portsmouth and have a cycle to donate, please take it to Southsea Cycles in Albert Road, Southsea.
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