The Rotary Club of Portlaoise will host a Bikes4Africa collection day on Sunday May 20 from 11am to 4pm
For the last number of years, rotary clubs around Ireland have collected unwanted or unused bicycles to send to school children in Africa.
These recycled bikes have been refurbished by the Irish Prison Service and are then shipped to by the UK-based charity, ‘Jole Rider’ as part of their Bikes4Africa project.
These unwanted bikes are going to help these children to get an education.
A bike gets a child to school safely, on time and alert instead of exhausted after what can be a 7-mile walk in the searing heat.
Thanks to Ethel Gavin, ex-Governor of Loughan House Open Prison in County Cavan and Liam Reilly, current Governor, the Irish Prison Service is partnering with Rotary to refurbish the donated bikes.
The project provides prisoners with an opportunity to give back to the community and learn new skills.
It teaches them about bike technology and repair as they service, clean and recycle the bikes in the newly constructed Bikes4Africa workshop in Loughan House prison.
The collection will take place at the Centrepoint car park on the Mountrath Road.
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