Street Scene Services . Manchester City Council . Hammerstone Road . Gorton . Manchester M18 8LQ


To: Mr John Kenney
Rido Cycle Saddles
RIDO SPORT LTD.
Woodbridge, Suffolk

Dear John,

I hope my letter finds you in good health. I know it's a sign of the times and nearly everyone sends e-mails, but I like to write a letter.

We are now up to 3,082 bikes and going strong. Funny thing, John, is that when someone outgrows a bike or they move onto a car, people are stuck with ideas on where to take their redundant bikes, so they either leave them to rust, just throw them out on spare land or take them to the tip.

That's where we came in: the lads working on street cleaning and refuse collection here at this depot. We are responsible for two thirds of the refuse collection in Manchester and a third of the street cleaning. In all nearly 300 manual workers so you can imagine the bikes that they come across.

Over the last twelve months as the media has got involved, the general public has become aware of what we are doing and have started bringing bikes here to us.

A big plus for us is the fact that all the bikes are given away free of charge, which makes people comfortable.

I have been approached by the Mancat College who are merging with City College - they will then have 80,000 students. What they want to do is start a scheme which they term a "Bike Library". I think it is a good idea and, okay, it might take some organising. I have promised them any adult bikes that I come across as they have tutors and people who are willing to do them up.

As you can imagine it's enjoyable and you feel as though you are doing something worthwhile. Here's a nice story; to me it's what it's all about:

One of the cleaning lads brought in an adult tricycle, complete which gears on it, covered in mud and rubbish. To be honest, it looked worse than it was. First thing I did was to jet wash it and it was in beautiful condition. No scratches on the paintwork whatsoever and all the chrome work sparkled like new. Even the wheels and tyres were like new.

I had it parked outside my office and was approached by a taxi driver - (they have to come to the depot for their MOT's). He asked me if it was for sale as he knew a lady who would want it. I asked the taxi driver for the lady to come and see me which she did. She brought her son, a sixteen year old lad who was six feet tall. It turned out he had learning difficulties which you could tell when you saw him. All his friends had two-wheeler bikes so he could not join in. The trike was ideal for him.

His mum asked me how much the bike was. I told her it was free of charge and that she could take it away. At the time I was dressed as a teddy bear, so she asked me to take the teddy bear mask off. She gave me a big hug and told me that she had been quoted a thousand pounds for the same bike. Her son said, "Please let me shake your hands and be your friend". Seeing the lad ride off on his new bike made everything worthwhile.

Thank you very much for all the seats. All the bikes that go out from here now have the Rido seats on them!

Yours sincerely,

Oscar
2nd July 2007