The Challenge:
The Pathway Trust help people being released from prison make a fresh start through assisting them in finding employment, learning new skills, and supporting families or individuals who need accommodation.
One of the Christchurch-based trust’s reintegration initiatives is its bike programme where volunteer mechanics team up with young people from Christchurch Men’s Prison Youth Unit to turn old unused bikes into road ready machines.
The bikes are then given away to any of Pathway Trust’s clients requiring transport to attend appointments such as job interviews or doctor’s visits.
With limited space available for storing the old and newly recycled bikes, the programme has been limited despite the demand for bikes. Having little room to store the bikes safely also meant Pathway had to turn down many offers of bikes.
The Solution:
Royal Wolf has supplied Pathway with a Wolf Lock Security container free of charge to store bikes safely and securely. The specialised 20-foot storage container, which has a single lever mechanism to make opening container doors easier, also doubles as an extra bike workshop space for volunteers and apprentices.
The easy access is ideal for Pathway volunteers, many of whom are older who would have difficulty opening the traditional container doors. The Wolf Lock also has the ability to open the door from the inside providing an extra level of safety for volunteers.
The Result:
Renee Jones, Employer and Volunteer Coordinator at Pathway Trust, says much of what the trust does relies on the generosity and support of businesses and people in the community.
“The new partnership between Royal Wolf and Pathway has not only enabled us to continue to run our bike project, but to expand it, meaning more people can benefit from this programme in the future.” The Pines Resource Recovery Park have donated their latest selection of bikes that are being stored in the Royal Wolf container.
Pathway hope to have an assessor review the bike programme to enable the participants to earn NCEA credits at the completion of the course.
