Portsmouth project sees bikes donated to asylum seekers as they volunteer to help Covid-19 vaccine booster roll-out

Toraj and six other fellow asylum seekers are the latest group to benefit from a scheme that is helping asylum seekers become volunteers by giving them donated bikes.

It means Toraj and the others will now be able to quickly and easily travel to their new voluntary roles at St James’ Hospital, where they will support the roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccine booster jab

The bike donation project, which has brought together asylum support group Portsmouth City of Sanctuary, sustainable travel group Sustrans, and the Portsmouth and Southsea Rotary Club, has given out 26 bikes since July.

With asylum seekers receiving as little as £40 a week from the government, helping them to travel about the city cheaply and easily has created a new pool of volunteers for a range of organisations across the city, according to Portsmouth and Southsea Rotary Club president Caroline Gwatkin.

The president of the club, which saw a 93-year-old member donate the latest round of bikes, said: ‘For this particular group of people, the support they receive is not as much as they need.

‘This is a group who with a little bit of people will give an awful lot back.’

Portsmouth City of Sanctuary has helped the city’s asylum seekers become volunteers at charity shops, art galleries, beach litter picking sessions, and a cafe session for the vulnerable at St Jude’s Church.

One of the asylum seekers who had previously received a donated bike said the act of kindness was a huge help for her mental health – and allowed her to pay-forward the kind gesture.

The 22-year-old, who traveled from Sudan to Portsmouth four years ago and now volunteers at the St James’ Hospital vaccination centre, said: ‘The bike has given me access to go do volunteer work across the city.

‘And it really helped with my mental health - now I have friends in vaccination centre.

‘I plan to get a job in IT – I love Portsmouth and I want to stay here.’

Bicycle road safety training has been provided for the volunteers by Adrian Saunders of Top Banana Cycling, with helmets provided by Southsea Cycles, while Motiv8 is providing temporary storage.

Now Anita David, project lead at Portsmouth City of Sanctuary, says that more support is needed in order for the work to continue.

She said: ‘Portsmouth City of Sanctuary is looking into ways to make this project sustainable.

‘Storage for donated bikes and maintenance costs are massive challenges we face, this will make it difficult for us to continue this fantastic project in the future.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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