More than 100 used EVie bicycles heading to Africa
MORE than 100 electric bicycles are heading to Africa, having been donated to the Eleanor Foundation by the company behind the EVie hire bikes initiative.
EVie’s bikes have been in use in Guernsey since 2021 and have been hired more than 17,000 times by 10,000 different users.
Once the batteries have been stripped out they will be sent to Africa by the foundation.
‘With the current stock of bikes at the end of their working life, in keeping with our sustainability ethos we wanted to ensure that they were recycled,’ said EVie company director Barrie Duerden.
‘We also wanted to assist local charities, so donating the bikes to the Eleanor Foundation is the perfect outcome.’
Founding director of the foundation Allister Carey said that after the batteries are stripped out for recycling, the bikes will be shipped to the UK charity Re-Cycle for onward delivery to its partner organisations in various African countries, where they will be used in rural communities.
‘In Guernsey, many bikes are either thrown away or lie unused in sheds and garages while many people living in Africa have no access to transport of any kind,’ he said.
Mr Carey said the Eleanor Foundation had been sending bikes to Re-Cycle since 2013.
‘This welcome donation from EVie will bring the total number of bikes received ever closer to 4,000.’
