IPSWICH: A disability charity is proving that going green is easy when it's fun.

IPSWICH: A disability charity is proving that going green is easy when it's fun.

Ipswich based Genesis Orwell Mencap has started “re-cycling” following the launch of The Green Bike Project.

The wheels were set in motion after a ribbon cutting event at the stable block in Holywells Park, bringing an end to a year of planning and kick-starting a creative environmental scheme.

Genesis was awarded �50,000 of Big Lottery funding to set up the project in November last year and will be based at the stable block, offering bicycle hire and sale to the general public. It will also offer pool bike schemes to local businesses in early 2010.

Damien Ribbans, business development manager, said: “The Green Bike Project was a very small idea that has grown into a huge community project.

“I am so pleased that lots of different organisations such as the borough council, county council and Primary Care Trust have come together to make this happen. We couldn't have done it without them”.

“It differs from other similar projects with the amount of community involvement that it brings. Because of the way the project was funded and has been set up, it is truly community owned and can bring huge benefits to our town, from reducing congestion to increasing leisure provision and improving the health of our community.”

Genesis is a local charity, providing day care and domiciliary support for adults with learning and physical disabilities.

If you have an old bike to donate to The Green Bike Project or want to visit the stable block in Holywells Park to see it in operation, call Damien Ribbans on 01473 723 888 or email damien@orwellmencap.co.uk

n. Do you think the project is a good idea? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or email eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk