An expanding Irish cycling group is appealing for new premises so it can continue to grow and help more people get back on their bikes.
Drogheda Cycling Group said it was trying to normalise cycling around the Co Louth town. And while it had enjoyed success so far, it now needed a significant input of goodwill, including the temporary use of any vacant property for a short period.
The group's chairperson, Noel Hogan, said while he had always been an avid cyclist, when he became a father he could see his children were not enjoying the same kind of cycling opportunities that he had enjoyed as a child.
He believed it had been easier for his generation to jump up on a bike and go around carefree with their friends. The environment seemed more dangerous now for today's children.
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As a result, and because cycling around Drogheda appeared to have become more challenging for adults too, he decided to form the group. When he released a "shout out" to see if other people were interested in helping him, many locals came forward.
"We're doing quite well now, we had a very good summer of community cycles and we're looking to step up our activities in the next few months," he told LMFM.
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He explained the group was trying to "normalise cycling" and had been encouraging families to get out on their bikes, laying on events for them.
"We'd have a bike workshop before those (group rides) and we'd fix up bikes; the basic maintenance that a bike needs," he explained.
Hogan added the Drogheda Cycling Group was now looking for a premises so it could do more of that work and also store the bikes that had been donated for restoration so more bikes would be available for people to use to ride around the area.
"We also want to have workshops so we could teach people the basics," he said of the group's plans to reach people to carry out basic maintenance on their own bikes.
The group wanted to help bring about positive change in the area and while it had already enjoyed generosity and assistance in its work to date, getting access to a premises, rent-free, was now crucial.
In order to facilitate its plans, the group was appealing to anyone with a vacant property in Drogheda and was also encouraging anyone with a bike that could be restored and put back into use to get in touch with them at [email protected] or via Facebook at this link.
