Celebrating the efforts of Mission Australia staff at the Bike Fix'im program

Today we would like to celebrate the hard work and dedication of the Mission Australia Bike Fix’im team.

There are very few events on the yearly calendar that surpassed the fervent anticipation and excitement expressed by hundreds of children across Central Australia when they got the news that the Bike Fix’im team were on their way.

Overseen by Mark Swindells, Service Manager at Alice Springs, Bike Fix’im was a program that collected reconditioned bikes and parts to deliver to children in the Central Australian communities of Docker River, Mutitjulu, Imanpa and Finke.

"We generally spent six months collecting reconditioned bikes and parts and organising the logistics, while the kids are occupied at school.

"Then we spent a week with the kids at each of the four communities during the main school holidays, come home and start all over again,"  said Mark.

"The bikes came from all over – general donations from the public and unclaimed bikes from our local police. We’d even get some from a guy in South Australia who does an amazing job of reconditioning discarded bikes.

"We would load up to 100 bikes on roof racks and trailers and bring them out to the kids."

The Bike Fix’im team would drive up to 700km to reach the remote Docker River community, where about 150 kids eagerly awaited their arrival.

Bike Fix’im was not all about new bikes; the main aim of the program was to teach the children basic mechanical skills in a structured three-day workshop.

“These kids are amazing and they are so handy with the tools. Some of the kids might have been waiting for months for us to arrive with the spare parts they need to repair their bikes – many hidden discretely in the bush to prevent them from being raided for spare parts by the other kids. The day we arrive they all start to appear in various states of repair,” said Mark.

For the parents and guardians (many of whom are grandparents), the Bike Fix’im program offered much needed relief from the demands of raising young, energetic children.

Once bikes were repaired, the kids were occupied with the exhilaration that comes from the independence felt with your own set of wheels.

Mark spent more than three years as a youth worker at Docker River and is familiar with the challenges faced by these communities where more than half the population is under 24.

“Without some constructive activities the youngsters spend their time humbugging* their parents and guardians. The kids wear them down until they give in to whatever demands are being made, just for a bit of peace.

“I like to think Bike Fix’im was just as much for the older generation as it is for the kids” said Mark.

The Bike Fix'im program is now to be run by a new charity provider.  Mission Australia wishes them well and hopes the program will continue to aid Central Australian communities for years to come.

* a local term for harassing someone.