We’re very sad to share that Wheely Tots’ electric bike, a Cube Cross Pro, was stolen on Monday 16th March on Lordship Rec. We use this bike to transport a trailer of cycles around to sessions for families and Your Bike Project, our youth-led cycling initiative based in Tottenham. Pictures of the bike are here.
Although we’re gutted, we’re also heartened by all the empathy and help that David received from strangers and passerbys immediately after the theft on his search for the bag and information. We’ve also received loads of support from people we’ve shared the news with. This feels symptomatic of all the community action that’s taking place right now, proving just how much we can be there for each other.
David was cycling out of Lordship Rec, near the Walpole Road entrance, when two young people blocked his way and asked him for the bike. On the bike was a blue pannier, full of equipment, and attached to it was a hitch that secures the bike to our trailer.
“I went back to the BMX track, where I saw some of the young people who attend Your Bike Project sessions on Saturdays,” explains David. “I told them what had just happened and asked them to take my blue bag to the community centre or the hub if they found it.”
“They were more keen to tell me about what a great session they’d had last Saturday, which was nice to hear,” he adds.
After fetching a spare bike from the Croydon Block in Broadwater Farm Estate – the venue for Your Bike Project Saturday sessions – David explained what had happened to a stranger on a bike, who agreed to accompany him on a recce around the park.
After the cyclist left, David asked a couple of other passerbys if they’d seen his bag. He then spotted something blue on the other side of the Model Traffic Area and cycled towards it.
“Amazingly it was the bag!” says David. “The bike tools were still in it. All my keys – all the keys for everything to do with Your Bike Project and Wheely Tots – were in there. The one thing I’d lost were my gloves, which out of all things considered, is pretty good.
“I passed another guy after I picked up my bag. He said, ‘oh is that yours?’ It was a glove!”
On his way home David passed Park View School, where he spoke to Mr Chambers, a teacher, who gave David the number of the Deputy Head. “I figured out, if someone might know someone who might know someone who knows where that bike is and maybe we could at least get that hitch back for the trailer, which would be useful.”
We’re really keen to get the bike back as it’s essential for our work as a charity. If anyone has any information or would like to offer support, please let us know on info@wheelytots.com. Thank you.
