This shop is giving bikes to kids across Winnipeg this holiday season

WINNIPEG -

On Saturday , hundreds of children’s bikes are being repaired by Winnipeg volunteers at Clifton Community Centre, and they’re being given away for free this holiday season.

For the past 11 years The WRENCH (Winnipeg Repair and Education Cycling Hub), a community bike shop and non-profit, has hosted the Cycle of Giving fundraiser, where volunteer mechanics get together and fix damaged bikes that will go out to kids in the community before the holidays.

“We used to do this at Orioles (Site) over a 24-hour period,” said Kate Sjoberg, executive director of The WRENCH.

“Over the pandemic we’ve adjusted a little bit so people are socially distanced, so we have a lot of volunteers actually fixing bikes out of their home shops this year.”

As of Saturday the group repaired 450 bikes, and they’re confident they’ll pass the 500 mark.

The WRENCH works with community organizations, schools and individual families, and on Monday all the bikes will be shipped out to them and each one will come with a helmet.

“Our community partners will distribute them to local families and kids who are interested in having a bike for the upcoming riding season,” Sjoberg said.

The WRENCH has a partnership with the City of Winnipeg, which allows them to collect all discarded bikes from the 4R sites and use them for their programs. They also use the basement of the Animal Services building for free to run their operations, and have access to the Orioles Site and Clifton Community Centre.

“We’re going to be offering some of our educational programs at Clifton Community Centre in the new year, so this is kind of like our opening party to that partnership,” Sjoberg said.

The Cycle of Giving is also a fundraiser for The WRENCH itself, and funds collected will go towards the new building they’re looking to buy in the next 18 months.

You can find out how to donate by heading to their website