Bike Station pedalling against cyclical effect of credit crunch

IT is the recycling initiative which has grown in tandem with the Capital's love affair with cycling.

But The Bike Station has become an unexpected victim of the economic slowdown as the number of bike donations it receives has dried up – and the demand soars.

The Causewayside-based charity – which renovates donated bikes and then sells them on – has been hit by a steep fall in the number of people moving house, when people traditionally clear out garages or sheds and donate bikes.

However, the current economic conditions also mean the charity is struggling to keep up with demand from commuters who are turning to two wheels to beat the crunch.

Around 150 people turned up to the charity's workshops weekly sale last week with many turned away empty handed.

And now Bike Station bosses have launched an appeal for people to start donating more old bikes to the charity. The number of donations has dropped from 521 in May to just 221 last month.

Mark Sydenham, project manager with Edinburgh Bike Station, said: "It has been a really tough period.

"At first I thought it was because of the bad weather in August but we looked at it again and our numbers began to drop at the same time the housing market began to falter.

"The majority of the bikes do come in when people are clearing out their sheds or garages ahead of a move.

"There is still a massive demand for bikes, as any of the city's normal bike shops will tell you, but the difference for us is as a charity we rely on donations rather than buying them in.

"I think there are still a lot of unwanted bikes out there and we are just urging people to spare the time and bring them into us."

Up until July there had been a 42 per cent increase in bike donations on last year, but August and September's figures saw this drop to 10 per cent on last year.

Founded in 2002, The Bike Station had a number of homes before opening in the basement of Waverley Station. From there it moved to Causewayside in 2006 and last year alone took in more than 50 tonnes of discarded bicycles.

A spokesman for the cycling lobby group Spokes said: "There has never been a greater demand for cycling in Edinburgh than now and it is a cheap and reasonable way of getting around.

"The Bike Station has done a great job getting people onto two wheels over the years and I am sure the unwanted bikes are out there, it is just a case of encouraging people to take them along."

Meanwhile, The Bike Station has just been nominated in the sustainability category for The Scottish Transport Awards 2008.

They will find out if they have won at a ceremony in Glasgow next month.