Borry lives with his mum, grandmother and siblings. His school is around 8km away, along rough roads and tracks. Last year, before he had a bike, he was absent for 15 days in Term 1.
Then Borry received a Re-Cycle bicycle through the Cycle to School programme run by our partner, Wonder Years Centre of Excellence (WYCE). By Term 3 he had zero days absent, and his results improved in several subjects, including Maths and Science.
He isn’t alone. In Kerr Demba village, Grade 11 student Eggeh Sowe also faces an 8km journey. For girls, long walks on unlit tracks and muddy rainy-season paths can be unsafe as well as exhausting. Her bike has made the journey faster, safer and less tiring, and it helps her keep attending school.
Since 2017, the programme has reached 662 students across 19 schools in 18 villages.
Journey times have fallen by up to 75%.
Every bike started life in the UK, donated by supporters and shipped to The Gambia by Re-Cycle.
Last October, 70 students at Bakalarr Upper & Senior Secondary School received bikes, the biggest single-school handover yet.
“The bicycles are not just gifts, but tools to improve their education. Take care of them, be safe on the roads, and let this support reflect in your academic performance.”
Mr. Lamin Kijera, Director, Wonder Years Centre of Excellence (WYCE), The Gambia
We don’t just send bikes. We train local mechanics in Africa to prepare and repair them once they arrive. That gives people valuable skills and local jobs, and it means that when a tyre goes flat or a chain breaks, the repair is done close to home and at low cost. A bike that can be fixed keeps getting a child to school year after year.
Why we’re asking for your help this Cycle to School Week
Collecting, shipping and supporting all of this takes a charity that keeps going: our people, our warehouse operations costs, and our work training mechanics and supporting partners like WYCE. That’s what your donation supports.
As a small charity, we don’t have big marketing budgets or layers of overhead.
That means more of your donation goes directly into the work that gets children to school.
- £10 helps assess, prepare and load donated bikes before they’re shipped
- £20 could provide spare parts to our partners, keeping donated bikes in good working order for longer
- £30 covers the average cost of delivering a Re-Cycle bike to one of our trusted partners
- £50 could fund training sessions that teach local mechanics how to maintain bikes in their communities
Thank you for helping children get to school.
