Short description

Bicycle Empowerment Network (BEN) establishes bicycle retail and maintenance centres, trains recipients of bicycles in safety and maintenance and encourages cities to implement bicycle planning and infrastructure.

Need

According to the National Household Travel Survey (NHTS, 2003), walking and cycling makes up 23% of the main mode of transport. A significant finding of the survey is that 76% of scholars, including students, walk to education resource centres and 3 million of them spend more than an hour walking to and from places of learning. Over 90% of the lower income households send their learners to school on foot.

Improving mobility can reduce poverty by giving communities access to social services and facilitating their participation in political and economic activities. Mobility requires a combination of appropriate transport infrastructure, improved transport services and affordable means of transport, both motorised and non-motorised.

In addition to this, riding a bicycle is not only good for you but it’s also great for the environment: it’s pollution free and helps reduce gas releases.

Overview

The Bicycling Empowerment Network (BEN) South Africa was established in Cape Town in 2002. The main focus of BEN is to address poverty and mobility through promoting the use of bicycles.

BEN imports used bicycles from across the world and distributes them to low income areas. They then help emerging entrepreneurs set up the Bicycle Empowerment Centre (BEC’s), which are businesses that repair and sell bicycles. The BEC entrepreneurs are selected based on specific criteria and are provided with ten bicycles and tools. They also receive training in business management and bike maintenance. BEN acts as a wholesaler to the BEC’s and they are able to then sell and repair bicycles for their communities. BEN’s geographic reach spreads between the Western Cape, where their 17 Empowerment Centres are located, and the Eastern Cape, where they distribute bicycles and provide training at schools. This is done through the Shova Kalula programme, which promotes cycling in rural and peri-urban communities. BEN is a service provider to the Department of Transport (DoT) which selects schools and together with BEN distributes bicycles to children who are most in need of them.

They also work with local cities on the implementation of bike lanes and paths and secure bike facilities. In addition BEN also presents at workshops and seminars on bicycles as a form of mobility, both nationally and internationally.

What we like about this organisation

BEN not only provides bicycles, but also provides training, safety equipment and ongoing support to recipients by assisting unemployed people to become entrepreneurs and run a self-sustaining business. Through collaboration with stakeholders like DoT, City of Cape Town, Tswane and Johannesburg, BEN has implemented bike lanes and paths.

What difference can your money make?

  • R10 000 will be used towards training costs for two BEC’ managers
  • R250 000 will be used to import 1 200 used bicycles for distribution

Volunteering opportunities

  • Assistance with fundraising