Kent Refugee Action Network have so far donated 50 bikes to young asylum seekers with the help of the Bike Shed in Margate. Aiden McNamee reports.
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00:00Do you remember your first bike? It might have been a hand-me-down or a birthday present but for a lot of us it was for Christmas.
00:08And here in Canterbury one charity is hoping to bring some of that festive cheer to young refugees.
00:13The Kent Refugee Action Network, CRAM for short, has launched their Christmas Pedal Power Appeal.
00:18The plan? Convince the people of Kent to donate their old bikes, fix them up and bring the Christmas spirit to young people in need.
00:25So what does it mean to these young refugees when they get a bike?
00:28My name is Sanusi, I'm now nearly three years in the UK. I really feel happy because a bike has helped me a lot.
00:35We go to the football and go visit the friends and it's like freedom.
00:42Wherever you want to go, you just use your bike and it's easy and saves you time and saves you money.
00:49So we work with unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, so young people that come to this country without any family.
00:55We've given out this year 56 bikes to young people, so they're all second-hand donated bikes.
01:01The key to it really is the bike shed in Margate. They fix up the bikes and then we give them to young people with helmets, locks and lights.
01:09So what can money do for bikes? Well, a fiver gets you your basic emergency lights.
01:14A tenner gets a lock like this to keep it safe.
01:17For £15 we get some better, fancier rechargeable lights to keep safe at night.
01:23And for £20 we get a helmet like this.
01:26Obaida first came to Cran as a refugee in 2018. He worked with them as a youth ambassador and has even donated his own bikes to the cause.
01:33I've got two bikes, I'm not using them. I would rather give them to young people who get benefited from using it.
01:42Seeing the joy in a young person is such a great thing.
01:46They're giving them hope and opportunity and they're making them feel welcomed here.
01:53So why not donating bikes for them?
01:57Aidan McNamee, KMTV News.