Somewhere in Invercargill there is a bike that has not been ridden in years. The staff at BestStart Waihopai Kindy would like to hear about it, because it could be a child's first bike in a new country.

The kindy has teamed up with New Zealand Red Cross to pair donated bikes with former refugee families who have settled in Southland, the Otago Daily Times reported on Friday. Many of the families have children of preschool age.

Centre manager Sandi Shepherd told the ODT the kindy was doing more than helping its youngest children learn to ride. Staff have also been collecting tamariki and taking them home again, as a way of supporting parents through what she described as a challenging new journey. The kindy is glad to take warm clothing and shoes as well, but bikes are what is most needed, she said.

Darren Frazer, who leads the volunteer side of the Red Cross Pathways to Settlement programme, called the preschool's support for the families amazing. Handing a child the first bike they have ever owned was "pretty special", he said, and that the benefit went beyond the children. "Our bike programme helps the families we work with gain independence and get around the city," he told the ODT.

A volunteer-run bicycle co-operative workshop. In Invercargill, Red Cross volunteers service donated bikes before they are given to newly arrived families. File photo. Photo: Timothy J Carroll / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
A volunteer-run bicycle co-operative workshop. In Invercargill, Red Cross volunteers service donated bikes before they are given to newly arrived families. File photo. Photo: Timothy J Carroll / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

The bike scheme is not new. In a story on its website, Red Cross describes how its Invercargill team collects donated and second-hand bicycles, and how volunteers service and repair them before they are handed on. One of those volunteers, Sabelo Shavhani KaMageza, took up the work on the advice of his occupational therapist while he was recovering from a stroke, and has since worked on dozens of bikes, salvaging parts from the ones that cannot be saved.

The organisation explains why the bikes matter. Invercargill has limited public transport, and it can take a long time for newcomers to get a New Zealand driver licence and save enough to buy a car. A bike lets people get to work, school, English classes, sport or a friend's house almost straight away.

Red Cross began providing refugee settlement services in Invercargill in 2018. In an earlier story it said Southland had welcomed 353 former refugees since then, from countries including Colombia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, with volunteers helping families find their feet in their first months.

Tools on the wall of a community bike workshop. Donated bikes need to be in good working order before they can be passed on to former refugee families in Invercargill. File photo. Photo: 4300streetcar / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
Tools on the wall of a community bike workshop. Donated bikes need to be in good working order before they can be passed on to former refugee families in Invercargill. File photo. Photo: 4300streetcar / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0

KaMageza, who moved to Southland from South Africa 21 years ago, said on the Red Cross site that he enjoys spotting people riding around town on a bike he recognises as one he has worked on. "It is great to make a positive impact on people's lives," he said.

Anyone with a bike in good working order that is no longer needed can drop it off at BestStart Waihopai Kindy or at the Invercargill Red Cross Service Centre, the ODT reported.

That bike in the shed might have one more adventure in it. This time it could carry a child, and a family, a little further into their new home.