Give A Bike, Give Another Free – to World Bicycle Relief

This week, until 8th December, World Bicycle Relief has match funding available for all its donations. That means that everything you give will be doubled: give enough for one bike, and the match funding buys another. Give enough for one wheel, the matching funding pays for the other.

You might already have donated to World Bicycle Relief as part of our ‘N+1’ suggestion, where we invite those sharing their ‘New Bike Day’ on the Forum to give a little to World Bicycle Relief so someone else can experience the life changing properties of bikes. However, if you want your donation to be match funded (and of course, you do!), then don’t use the usual Singletrack N+1 donation page.

Instead, use this ‘Big Give’ page. Donating here will allow the generous peeps with the match funding cash to see all the donations that have been made, so they can then dig into their pockets to get their cash out to match it.

If you’ve been asked what you want for Christmas and you can’t think of anything you actually need, maybe you could ask for a new bike – for someone else, who you’ll never meet, but whose life you will change? Surely that would give you the warm fuzzies better than a new pair of slippers?

If you’re wondering why you might want to donate to World Bicycle Relief, then here’s a video to help show you what a good idea it is.

While there are other bicycle charities providing bikes to people in developing countries, World Bicycle Relief has developed a specific ‘Buffalo Bike’ that is designed for the conditions they encounter. WBR also puts in place local mechanical support, and involves the communities in identifying those in need. This helps make the model of help sustainable, changing lives in a long term and meaningful way through better access to education and healthcare.

The Situation

Across the developing world, more than 1 billion individuals live in rural areas. In these communities, distance & lack of mobility constrain access to opportunity and critical services. Insufficient and unreliable transport options remain a leading obstacle. Governments lack sufficient funding to maintain public transportation systems and road networks, while households lack the means to regularly access transport. Walking is the primary mode of local mobility and distance is a pervasive issue.

The Solution

At World Bicycle Relief, we have a holistic approach. We address the pervasive need for mobility by building and distributing a rugged, specially-designed, locally-assembled Buffalo bicycle to students, healthcare workers, entrepreneurs, farmers, and workers. Since 2006, our Buffalo Bicycles have helped more than 2.5m individuals in 19 countries by delivering over 500k bicycles. Our network of locally trained mechanics, spare parts support our programmes.

Hannah Dobson

Managing Editor

I came to Singletrack having decided there must be more to life than meetings. I like all bikes, but especially unusual ones. More than bikes, I like what bikes do. I think that they link people and places; that cycling creates a connection between us and our environment; bikes create communities; deliver freedom; bring joy; and improve fitness. They're environmentally friendly and create friendly environments. I try to write about all these things in the hope that others might discover the joy of bikes too.

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