Denmark launches website for people to donate bicycles to refugees

The Danish Ministry of Transport has teamed up with the national Cyclists’ Association to provide Ukrainian refugees with free bicycles. For this, they created the “Give a Bicycle initiative” (Giv en cykel), which uses the website givencykel.dk to coordinate bicycle donations and pass these on to refugees.

The idea is simple. Everybody who has a bicycle that is no longer needed can offer the bicycle on the website by providing a photo of the bicycle and some details on its size and condition. For their part, refugees are able to fill in a request form, stating their children's age or, for adults, their height, as well as their contact details and level of cycling experience. Local volunteers then match offers with requests, and hand over the bicycles to the refugees.

Jens Peter Hansen, National Chairman of the Cyclists’ Association states “We can make a difference. As cyclists, we know how the bicycle gives us the freedom to get around. I hope that many of our members and other volunteers have the desire and opportunity to help people who have had to leave everything.”

The website works in Danish and Ukrainian. As well as the main sections on the donations and requests, the website invites people to become local volunteers and provides information on Danish cycling culture, including information on traffic rules and requirements.

Photo Credit: Perekotypole © / Shutterstock.com - no permission to re-use image(s) without separate licence from Shutterstock.

Article published first at TheMAYOR.eu on 11 March 2022.