Hundreds of pounds worth of equipment stolen from Hackney Family Cycling community project

Pinched: some of Hackney Family Cycling’s missing equipment

The organiser of a community project that aims to get families cycling together said the “positive and overwhelming response” of the public to news of a burglary alleviated her “total devastation” at discovering bikes and equipment were missing.

Ruth-Anna Macqueen, who runs Hackney Family Cycling, discovered that a folding bike, a ladies’ hybrid, a twin child trailer and four rear children’s seats were stolen from their garage on the weekend of 22 and 23 April. A fold-up Brompton bike had been stolen from a different location the weekend before.

The 33-year-old junior doctor started a GoFundMe page on 27 April, and has already raised £557 of her £850 target to replace the stolen equipment and upgrade storage security. She said she was “chuffed” about how quickly people have pledged money.

Macqueen told the Citizen: “It’s a blow because it is all donated equipment, which makes it difficult to claim insurance. Luckily quite a lot of our equipment had been loaned out, so it’s by no means the end of the project.”

The scheme, which lets parents use a variety of cycles and attachments for use with children or cargo for up to a month before buying them from a bike shop, has been running for a year. In March this year the scheme received money from Transport for London to cover the cost of the garage hire and to pay an assistant.

People from around Hackney meet near London Fields lido on the first Sunday of every month, and parents are encouraged to try bikes fitted with trailers, child seats and cargo bikes. If people want to trial them for longer, they can borrow them for one month.

Macqueen says she started the scheme because “people stop cycling when they have children, and as bikes and equipment are expensive people can be totally put off instead of spending a lot of money on something that doesn’t suit you.

“I think being able to try something before you commit to it is massively useful. I’m not aware of any shops that let you try it on your commute to nursery or school.”

She put up a Facebook post about the burglary and was inundated with comments and messages from well-wishers.

“When I found out I was totally devastated and my children were beside themselves. But the response afterwards has been positive and overwhelming, and it shows there is a need for it,” Macqueen said.

You can donate to Hackney Family Cycling’s GoFundMe by following this link