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My name is Chris Foggin and I am the founder and project director of the Up-Cycles Charitable Trust. The Up-Cycles project was born out of my passion for riding bikes and decades of experience in all corners of the bike industry. I am a former police officer and subsequently was the Education Manager for Cycling NZ for 10 years and the General Manager at Cycling Southland.
Central Otago is already recognised as a great place to ride a bike, with millions of dollars coming into the community from cycle tourism, and we have the potential to be the best place on Earth to ride a bike, however there are some gaps. We have members of our community (children, young people & adults) who don’t have the capability to own or ride a bike. Those gaps, or needs, may be for reasons such as socio-economic, health & wellbeing, transport to school or work requirements, wanting to try cycle sport for the first time, or are a migrant or refugee who may need a hand-up… and that’s my philosophy…’it’s a hand-up not a hand-out’.
The Up-Cycles project was formed to close those gaps and provide refurbished donated bikes to those in need. My preference is to distribute the bikes through official organisations and I have already been able to provide bikes to those in need through a number of social service organisations and schools. These include; Oranga Tamariki, Alexandra Primary School, ADLNZ Queenstown and many others.
The donation from the Hugo Trust will enable so much more to happen for Up-Cycles, as we do many more kilometres delivering bike education, and up-cycling donated bikes. It is an incredibly generous gesture and will certainly make a big difference in our community. THANK YOU!
Posted in: Featured Donations 2024-2025
