Newman bike program a re-cycling success

A school holiday ”bike rescue” program has given kids in Newman new mechanical and social skills after dismantling bikes and rebuilding them.

The bikes were restored and customised over three days by participants and by the end of the course they were ready to take home and ride, along with a new helmet and bike lock.

The program was delivered by Perth-based social enterprise Dismantle and supported by Newman Futures, YMCA, Newman Women’s Shelter and ESS Kalgan’s Rest Village.

Dismantle’s Bike Rescue program is run by youth workers and has been delivered across regional WA.

Bike mentor Kate Clements said the Newman program was extremely successful.

“Building a bike is really challenging and requires a lot of perseverance,” she said.

“It was fantastic to see all 10 participants complete the course, despite many of them not having much bike mechanic knowledge to begin with.”

Newman parent Kahu Raharuhi said she was thrilled with how the course engaged her 11-year-old son Qijan.

“He was so proud of himself at the end of it,” she said.

“He thought it was the best school holiday program ever.

“He was so stoked and really loved spray painting and creating his own design on his bike. He also now knows how to fix his bike, which is great because I don’t know any of that.”

Newman Women’s Shelter Martu Patrol worker Kiki Titus volunteered his time over the three days to mentor the kids.

“It was really rewarding to see the kids motivated; I would love to do it again,” he said.

“The kids were listening, following instructions, in a way they might not do in school because they were really engaged.”

Newman YMCA helped register five young Martu participants for the course, collected them each morning, gave them breakfast and took them home each day, while ESS Kalgan’s Rest Village donated a selection of sandwiches, fresh fruit and morning tea.