Wheels for Life is a county wide scheme for bike donations which takes pre-loved bikes and brings them back to a usable condition for them to be gifted to people who do not have the opportunity to enjoy the varied benefits of owning and using a bike. We are overseeing the scheme which which aims to support people in transport poverty, as well as having a huge impact on the environment - saving 7.5 tons of waste every year.

Bike Hubs around the county take in the donated bikes, and make sure they are repaired and fully serviced by volunteers to ensure that they have a long service life when they reach their new homes. The hubs have already welcomed and trained volunteers to support the scheme and Low Carbon Louth, which hosts the hub in the town, has received a great response to people wanting to get involved. We found out more from a couple of the volunteers there.

Volunteer Mark Daly told us why he wanted to get involved in repairing the donated bikes, ‘I have owned a bike since I was a lad and have always ridden, although these days I only get out once a week for a 'good' ride. I am now retired and have some spare time on my hands after my other interests and the hub let me know about the scheme and what the volunteering entailed. I'm the sort of person that likes helping others, especially those much younger, so that they have the skills and hopefully they can pass them on in the future to others.’

Mark is also keen to encourage others to get involved in volunteering, ‘If you have the time and are willing to help others then volunteer. You may not think you have any skills, but you may surprise yourself. What you might consider to be common knowledge apparently isn't, most people can't even fix a puncture without prompting and we want to be able to help people learn.’

Ty, another volunteer at the Louth hub, told us,"I enjoy fixing bikes, and I always have. I feel that cycle shops are far too expensive, so people tend to just leave the bikes to rust in the shed. Most jobs are just pump up the tires, oil the chain and general routing maintenance, which is a shame.

Following Covid, I wanted to get some more experience as volunteer to put on the CV and this was a great way of doing it and it has given me a sense of self-worth and it has been good to meet new people and get out of the house."

Wheels for Life hubs are now open and located around the county including Louth, Grantham, Skegness, Holbeach and North Hykeham, and many of them need volunteer mechanics. Full training is provided as part of the scheme for volunteers to achieve their City & Guilds Level 2 Cycle Mechanic qualification.

Find your local hub on the Wheels for Life pages.