Staff at Scotland’s biggest music festival have been given a helping hand by a Perth project.
The Bike Station has provided T in the Park with a number of bicycles to help the support team travel round the 600-acre site.
The bikes are used to whizz between work stations during the setting- up of the event and will help cleaning teams move around the Balado site quickly after revellers have returned home.
Based at Friarton Industrial Estate, Perth Bike Station diverts old, unwanted and broken bicycles from landfill. These are either refurbished for reuse, or stripped down so that salvageable parts can be used to mend other bikes.
A handful of volunteers helps trained mechanics and the initiative provides valuable opportunities for training. Perth and Kinross environment convener Alan Grant said: “This is a wonderful project and it is great to see it in action.
“We are very conscious of the volume of waste being sent to landfill and this is something that we are actively looking to reduce.
“It is a great shame when you see things like bikes, which may be a little damaged or broken, being discarded when there are parts that can be reused and recycled.
“Projects like these help make a difference to reducing waste and I hope to see many other projects take inspiration and think about what they can do.”
Over the last couple of years, the team at Perth Bike Station has joined forces with a group in Aberfeldy to set up a project for young people in Highland Perthshire.
They also continue their day-to-day work at Friarton, hosting fix-your-own bike sessions, hiring out workspaces and tools for amateur mechanics to carry out repairs under expert guidance.
Mark Sinclair, of Perth Bike Station added: “Having recycled 13,000 bikes, Perth Bike Station is a good starting point for someone just taking up cycling, or for people with small children who will outgrow their bike quickly.”
For details visit www.thebikestation.org.uk, or call 01738 444430.