There was a great turnout from Rotary and The County Council and Fr. Sean Devereux also attended. In addition to various Members of our club, Dave Murray our district Governor, Mike Connolly our assistant District Governor and Jason Dempsey who is in charge of the bikes for Africa project for Rotary nationally all joined for the programme.
This is a partnership project between Rotary, the County Council, the Irish prison service and the defence forces. Wexford is the 15th local Authority Depot to be established in counties around Ireland.
The county council facilitates the collection of the bikes at various waste disposal sites around Ireland. Prisoners recondition the bikes and by all accounts love to work on the project. The defence forces transport the bikes to Africa. Rotary leads and organises the project and works with the different stakeholders in Ireland and Africa, including Caritas Gambia on the project. Each bike helps a student. The project is more than about giving a bike. It opens a dialogue about the importance of education on the ground and makes a better education more accessible – opening the door to a brighter future for each student and their family. A bike also is a wonderful asset in a village and can be important for people to get critical things done for the good of the community. John Casey is currently the project lead for the Rotary Club of Wexford. Helen also did work behind the scenes to prepare the ground for the launch yesterday during her term as President.
Well done to John, Helen, Eddie and all who have contributed to the success of the project thus far.
Fr. Sean Devereux will speak on Monday September 27th at 10 am with Alan Corcoran about the project on South East Radio.
For more infomation click here
How can you help?
I ask each of you to check out your own garage to see if you have a bike that may be suitable that you no longer need. And I also ask you to spread the word to your friends, colleagues and neighbours. Specifications of what is needed are below and in the attached flyer.
