1My name's Dan Pearman
2and I'd like to talk about the work of Pedal Power,
3a small charity based mainly in the UK.
4I'll be giving our contact details at the end,
5if anyone would like to find out more about how to support us.
6But first, how the charity began.
7I got the idea of exporting bicycles to developing countries while I was in Ecuador.
8I went there in 1993 just after graduating from university.
9After three years of studying, I wanted adventure.
10I loved travelling,
11so I decided to join a voluntary organisation
12and was sent to Ecuador to carry out land surveys.
13The project came to an end after five years
14and when I returned to the UK in 1998,
15I started planning Pedal Power.
16Where I lived in Ecuador was a very rural area.
17My neighbour had the only bicycle in the village,
18whereas everyone else walked everywhere.
19My neighbour's business was unusually successful,
20and for years I couldn't understand why.
21Then I realised having a bike meant he could get where he wanted to go without much trouble.
22Other local carpenters could only accept jobs in a 3 kilometre radius,
23so no matter how skilled they were, they could never do as many jobs as my neighbour.
24At Pedal Power, we collect second-hand bikes in the UK
25and send them to some of the poorest regions in the world.
26When we distribute bikes overseas, we don't give them away for free.
27We'd like to, but long term that doesn't really help the local economy.
28The demand for bikes is enormous, which makes them very expensive locally.
29So we sell them for 5% of the normal price.
30But in order to continue operating,
31we need to have a constant supply of bikes which we send out every six months.
32One example of a town that's received bicycles from Pedal Power is Rivas.
33It was the first place I sent a full container of bicycles to.
34Most people there now own a bicycle.
35The local economy has developed so much,
36you wouldn't recognise it as the same place.
37In fact, there are more bikes than on the streets of Amsterdam, if you've ever been there.
38But Pedal Power still needs your help.
39You may have read about some of our recent problems in the British media.
40In August 2000, we simply ran out of money.
41We had containers of bikes ready to send,
42but no money to pay the bills.
43It was a terrible situation.
44We managed to ensure the bikes went out on time,
45but the other problems carried on for several months.
46Fortunately, in October 2001,
47we won an Enterprise Award which helped us enormously.
48We invested 15 of the 75,000 pound prize money to help secure our future.
49Winning the award helped raise our profile,
50and the money enabled us to pay all our shipping costs,
51which represent our greatest expense.
52Pedal Power changes lives -
53when someone gets a bicycle from us, they see a 14% increase in their income.
54We're currently looking to invest in computers
55so that our office staff can do an even better job.
56Because of our work, people in a number of countries now have a better standard of living -
57so far we've provided 46,000 people with bikes.
58But we'd like to send more, at least 50,000 by the end of the year.
59Now there are many ways in which you can support the work of Pedal Power,
60not just by taking a bike to a collection in your area.
61I should also like to say if you do have a bike to donate,
62it doesn't matter what condition it's in.
63If we can't repair it, we'll strip it down for spare parts.
64Of course, to do that we always need tools, which are expensive to buy,
65so we welcome any that you can give.
66Also, you could help by contacting the voluntary staff at our offices,
67they'll be able to suggest activities you could organise to bring in funds for us.
68People do all kinds of things - including, of course, sponsored bike rides.
69Also, we're always interested to hear of other places that would benefit from receiving a consignment of bikes,
70and welcome suggestions from people who've been to developing regions on their travels.
71We hope that by talking on radio programmes like this,
72we will be able to raise public awareness,
73which will lead to government organisations also giving us regular financial support,
74something that we really need.
75If you'd like some more information about where to donate an old bicycle
76or offer help in other ways, please contact...