Eastbourne shopping centre to send abandoned bikes to communities in need

The centre's general manager Mark Powell said they never knew what to do with the bikes

An East Sussex shopping centre is sending abandoned bikes to communities in need.

The Beacon in Eastbourne has joined retailer Halfords to donate the bikes.

The centre's general manager Mark Powell said: "For years we'd accumulated unwanted bikes, but we were never quite sure what to do with them."

Halfords works with charities Re-cycle and Krizevac Project, which operate in Ghana, Gambia, Malawi, Zambia, Rwanda, South Africa, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.

It takes the bikes, makes the necessary repairs and stores them in a shipping container before sending them.

The Beacon shopping centre said it stored abandoned bikes for up to six months, and currently had five to donate.

A Halfords spokesperson said: "Across the UK millions of bikes lie unused and rusting, whereas in some parts of Africa a bike can provide a lifeline, enabling people to travel to work, school and carry goods further afield to sell."

Since 2013, Halfords has collected almost 60,000 bikes that would otherwise have ended up in landfill.

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