By Derek Schlennstedt
Students at Upwey primary School have returned to school to the surprise addition of a new bike shed.
Over the holiday period the newly established Upwey Men’s Shed undertook their first project, which involved building a bike shed for the students after the previous one was stolen.
Upwey Primary Principal Rebecca Honeysett said a bike was stolen from their existing bike cage – which was also stolen – at the front of the school and that since then students had been storing their bikes in a separate schoolroom.
“We haven’t had anywhere to store the bikes other than an office in the school,” Ms Honeysett said.
“Our current one is not ideal as a bike shed … even though there was lots of big chains and the cage was locked it wasn’t suitable and two bikes and the cage got stolen.”
Ms Honeysett said the attribution of a new shed would help to encourage more students to ride to school and embrace a healthy lifestyle.
She said that without the assistance of the Men’s Shed the school would not have been able to afford a new shed.
“To do it professionally would have cost us a lot of money, and wasn’t something we could’ve done on our own.”
“For them to come back and help out is fantastic and something that’s really important to our students.”
“We are so grateful for their generosity and now the children have a safe and secure place to store their bikes.”
