#BikesforUkraine - THANK YOU!

1 March 2023

Dear supporter,

We’d like to give you an update on the #BikesforUkraine collection.

With thanks to your generosity, we collected around 450 bikes and several pallets of helmets, locks and other gear! We also received about €8700 in financial donations. Some of the volunteers spent lunch breaks repairing and cleaning the bikes, and sometimes parts of their weekends.  

 

We loaded the bikes onto two lorries that safely arrived in Kyiv on 29 November and 15 December respectively, with thanks to our partners DFDS and Procter & Gamble.

Since then, the NGOs behind the #BikesforUkraine initiative have started to dispatch the bikes to the organisations and people in need who have requested them – see some examples below:

  • 50 bikes went to an orphanage in Zhytomyr, and to family social workers;
  • 30 bikes for local volunteers distributing humanitarian aid in Mykolaiv;
  • 37 bikes are used to reach essential services in the Kherson and Dnipro regions.
  • 30 bikes are used by volunteers and hospital workers in Kharkiv;
  • 17 bikes are bringing some happiness to children and teenagers from the Kyiv region who lived under occupation;
  • 20 bikes support the mobility of municipality workers in Kherson;
  • 20 bikes support families and social workers in Petrivska hromada (Kyiv region);
  • 5 bikes are increasing the mobility of volunteers in Irpin;
  • 10 former Brussels police bikes are now used by the bike police of Chernihiv;

We are very proud that our collection has featured on two of Ukraine’s largest media channels – 1+1 TV, and Ukrinform. The police bikes were also featured in both the local Belgian press und Ukrainian press.

 

Visit our website to see some of the photos we have received from the bike distribution.

Of the €8700 in financial donations that we received, we used a small share to purchase spare parts, and a larger share for the logistics costs, in particular the distribution of the bikes within Ukraine. We were also able to help the NGOs launch a tender for the procurement of bicycles and components that will support local Ukrainian businesses.

We are in close contact with the NGOs, and will keep supporting their cause where possible.

Many thanks once again for your support!

MOVE bike collection team