NHS Borders

With funding from Cycling Scotland and Cycling UK, staff working for NHS Borders are able to access bikes, locks, lights and helmets to help them get to work during the Covid-19 crisis.

Repairing and recycling bikes

Just Cycle, a charity based in Galashiels, repairs and recycles that would otherwise go to waste, returning them to the local community. During the Covid-19 pandemic, they have been supplying bikes to NHS staff, using funding from Cycling Scotland and Cycling UK’s Big Bike Revival project.

Supporting frontline workers

Just Cycle have specifically been supporting FiY1 posts, a newly created role for medical students in their final year, who can be fast-tracked to respond to the crisis. These new staff members are new to the region and living in halls, and the funding will allow the medics to get to work by supplying eight bikes, locks, light, helmets and maps of the local area. When they picked up their bikes, volunteer mechanics were on-hand, at a physical distance, to make sure bikes were safe and ready to ride.

Olive Herlihy, Director of Medical Education at NHS Borders, said: “I’d like to say a huge thank you to all involved for organising this. It is a magnificent gesture and one that is greatly appreciated by our FiY1 doctors. These bikes will help them to wind down from work and take in some of the wonderful scenery we have to offer in the Borders.” 

"Teamwork really does make the dream work!"

Deborah Crozier from Just Cycle said “The Covid19 pandemic has wreaked havoc in our lives, businesses and throughout our communities, but one good thing that has come out of it has been the relationships forged that has made this initiative possible. Teamwork really does make the dream work! Just Cycle have over 50 bikes out on loan to key workers, and thanks to funding, we are working hard to ensure more bikes are available. It has been our privilege to collaborate with other organisations to support frontline key workers in the Scottish Borders.”

To find out more, get in touch with Josh Wood at joshwood@cycling.scot or 07563555054.