A CAMPAIGN designed to get hundreds of the region's unused and unwanted bikes back onto the road has given more families the gift of cycling.

Yorwaste’s Get reCycling campaign is partnered with the Brownlee Foundation and The Recycle Project CIC.

The campaign kicked off with Yorwaste asking the public to drop pre-loved bikes off at its 22 household waste recycling sites throughout York and North Yorkshire, resulting in over 600 adult and children’s bikes being donated for refurbishment by the experts at Recycling Project CIC and put back to good use.

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As part of the Get reCycling campaign, to promote the joy of cycling and recycling, Yorwaste ran a competition for young people to create bikes made from recycled materials for the chance to win a selection of refurbished, as good as new, bicycles for their entire families, along with a selection of Brownlee Foundation goodies, including signed merchandise and cycling kit.

Six-year-old Lincoln Gillam from Bedale, and 14-year-old Cara Harrington, from Leyburn, both raided their household recycling bins to produce creations, complete with egg box seats, toilet roll tube handlebars and yoghurt pot pedals, which were selected as the winning entries by Yorwaste’s social media followers, along with Jonny and the team at the Brownlee Foundation.

Jonny said: “We were super impressed with Cara and Lincoln’s creations and delighted to see their love of cycling rewarded with a set of real-life bikes for their whole families to enjoy.

“Yorwaste’s Get reCycling campaign is so important. The more people we can get into the saddle, the healthier, cleaner and better off our region will be. It’s fantastic to see how many bikes have been donated, repaired and given new life over the last couple of years thanks to this initiative.”

The campaign also saw the region's leading waste management firm team up with Recycle Project CIC to roll out several free bike maintenance workshops throughout the summer, where members of the public could learn how to keep their cycles in tip-top condition.

James Todd, marketing executive at Yorwaste, adds: “Huge congratulations to Cara and Lincoln, whose creations stood out amongst the many strong entries we received. From drawings on recycled materials to models made from containers and tubes, it was fantastic to see young people get on board with the environmental aspect of our campaign, while inspiring hundreds of cyclists to get on their bikes."

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