Amnesty's Bicycle Restoration Scheme
December 11, 2024
This week, the school's Amnesty Group delivered five donated, restored bicycles to a refugee point in the city. Rosie Pank (L6), a member of the Amnesty Group, tells us more:
"Today, I had the pleasure of joining Mr Bedford-Payne in dropping of 5 bikes that we had restored throughout the term to a hotel that is acting as a refugee point for asylum seekers and refugees who enter the country with nowhere to stay.
It was so rewarding to see the refugee’s excitement as they helped to unload them from the van, and speaking to the ladies who run the hotel about what it’s like for many of their residents. Many of the refugees who are staying at the hotel walk into Norwich for school and classes which takes them up to an hour and a half! The bikes will enable some of them to shorten that journey to 20 minutes, making a huge difference to their lives, as it is common for them to only receive around £10 a week so paying for the bus to get in is out of the question. It was incredibly heart warming to see there reactions, and has inspired us to relaunch the project again next term!"
Mr Bedford-Payne, who is the member of staff responsible for the group added:
"The FONS awarded the school's Refugee Support Group £400 to purchase tools and equipment for the Bicycle Restoration Project. Some of these funds were used to procure helmets, locks and lights for these five bicycles.
Since there are 160 people staying at that hotel on the outskirts of Norwich, our plan is to continue to provide donated bicycles. However, we need to launch a fresh appeal to the school community for second hand bicycles that can be dropped off here or indeed collected from elsewhere. Look out for more information next year!"
Thank you to FONS for the support and generous funding!





