Battersea Cogs Home rehomes abandoned bicycles

Many of the millions of bicycles that lie languishing unused in garden sheds, cast aside in roadside verges or abandoned at bike racks around the country are to be offered a new lease of life by a new bicycle-rehoming organisation called Battersea Cogs Home.

Battersea Cogs Home has been rescuing, restoring and rehoming abandoned bicycles since the beginning of this year, but its website will be launched officially on 1st April.

It is estimated that up to 100,000 bicycles in Britain each year are abandoned and many times more this number lie unused in garden sheds.

Spokesperson for the Environmental Transport Association, Yannick Read, said: “The way that bicycles are given as Christmas presents, but then confined to a shed for months on end without exercise, care or attention is nothing short of cruelty.”

Battersea Cogs Home

Abandoned, abused, neglected. Such is the fate for many thousands of bicycles. And the rusting frames and buckled wheels that litter town centres and hedgerows around Britain are testament to this growing problem

Each abandoned bicycle would tell a different story, but in every case the once-proud machine is neglected and unloved…

Protect your bike

The better a bike is cared for the less likely it is to end its days at Battersea Cogs Home.

A cycle insurance policy from the ETA is as good a start to life as any for a bicycle as it attends to almost every aspect of its wellbeing.

If your bicycle is damaged in the course of riding, or through an act of deliberate vandalism, the insurance pays for the bike to be repaired. Every policy includes new-for-old replacement in the event of theft and third party insurance (in the case of an accident you may need to seek compensation or even deal with a claim by someone else). The insurance also includes personal accident cover, race event cover (theft and accidental damage) and if you suffer a mechanical breakdown, a van will be sent to recover you and your bike. Electric bicycles can also be covered. Includes 90 days’ European cover and 60’ days worldwide.