Charitable spirit flowing through Diageo staff

More than 450 bikes have been collected over the past six months. Picture: contributed

Staff at drinks giant Diageo from across Scotland and Ireland are pursuing a different kind of export for the firm by donating more than 450 bikes set to reach rural communities in Africa.

The project was inspired by two of the group’s staff members north of the Border, Diane Thomson and Jennifer O’Keefe, who yesterday helped pack the items into a shipping container at its Shieldhall packaging plant in Glasgow.

The bikes will head off on a 5,400-mile journey to Ghana, and the shipping container will stay in Koblimahigu to be used as a Bicycle Empowerment Centre with locals being given maintenance skills to create a self-sustaining business for the community.

Thomson, a supply planning manager at Diageo Shieldhall, said: “From the moment our idea was given the go-ahead our colleagues really rallied behind the project and we’ve been overwhelmed with the support from Diageo.” The project has been run with Bicycles For Humanity.