Martin King

Eastleigh resident, Martin King, has been repairing and donating old and unused bikes throughout the coronavirus pandemic and during the lockdown period.

Martin set up his service "Free Bikes Hampshire UK" for over a year after fixing an old bike that had been brought into the charity shop that he worked in. He enjoyed it so much he decided to carry on doing it so that he was able to give something back to people in the Borough.

He knows that mental health is really important during this time and that having a bike can help people who might be struggling, to get out and enjoy fresh air and exercise with their families.

Since starting the Facebook group, Martin has fixed up and donated over 1,000 bikes, and says with lockdown restrictions in place, he has never been so busy.

He now runs a Facebook page where he posts pictures of the bikes he is donating and sometimes raffles off the best bikes to raise money for charity. Since starting this service Martin has donated money to organisations including the NHS, fire service, ambulance, and Age UK.

There are now over 2,700 members of the group and Martin said he is constantly getting new bikes in.