At Qhubeka we are passionate about mobilising people with bicycles. Through our Bicycle Education Empowerment Programme in partnership with World Vision SA, we provide bicycles to school children to help them get to school faster and more safely. Of course, cycling has many benefits for kids, whether it’s riding to get to school more quickly or for pleasure or exercise.
We enjoy meeting other people who share our love of bicycles and our vision of seeing more children riding them, which is why we’d like to to tell you about an exciting organisation called Kidz on Bikes.
The Kidz on Bikes Programme has been developed by Tony Harding and Neil MacDonald, who together have over 30 years of experience in professional cycling. Neil has achieved National Colours on 14 different occasions and been a top professional for the past 15 years, while Tony has managed professional teams and individuals racing both in South Africa and abroad, including in the Olympics and Commonwealth Games.
Kidz on Bikes coaching staff present classes at schools as an extra curricular activity. The programme supplies the bikes and all necessary equipment to present the class. Each Kidz on Bikes class lasts for a duration of 90 minutes and can accommodate 20 kids. Each level (there are five levels in total) runs over a 10-week period with one lesson per week after school hours.
Neil explains that he has recently retired from professional cycling and would love to give something back to a sport that has given him so much over the years. “When I attended school we were forced into the mainstream sports,” he says. “If I had been given the opportunity at a younger age to take part in cycling, I am almost certain that I would have been able to achieve so much more in my career.”
He and Tony would like to give children the opportunity of experiencing cycling at school. “We have officially been given the go ahead to roll out the Kidz on Bikes programme at Trinity Little Falls (total of 475 students) as well as Maragon Private Schools (750 students),” says Neil. “I truly believe that Kidz on Bikes has the potential to be a huge success.”
For every child that signs up to Kidz on Bikes, R30 will be donated to Qhubeka. In this way, the programme not only supports children at the schools where it’s being run, but also contributes towards helping Qhubeka to mobilise more people with bicycles.
For more information about Kidz on Bikes, visit the website.
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