Kids learn spray skills at Kirkcaldy’s Bike Hub

Gallatown Bike Hub Shuggy Hughes with bike

Sprayed The Word was pioneered in Easter, and aims to provide people with unique bikes that are less desirable to thieves after a spate of thefts in the area.

It is funded by CashBack for Creativity, a scheme that takes the proceeds of crime and redistributes it back into communities.

The programme is led by Shuggy Hughes whose role is Aspiring Gallatown community development worker with Kirkcaldy’s YMCA has praised the scheme, Shuggy said: “There is a nightmare of bike theft around the Gallatown area,

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He said: “I initially got funding to provide people with bike locks. The problem with that was a lot of kids lost the keys within a couple of weeks.

“Also, they didn’t really want to use them as they don’t want to carry a bag or have the lock rattling around on their bike.

“It was youngsters who visited the hub who came up with the idea of spraying the bikes.”

Many machines donated to the hub are a bit run down and rusty, and this gives them a new lease of life.

“We thought it would be great if we could spruce them up and come up with a bespoke design unique to the bike,” added Shuggy.

“The idea is to make it difficult for anyone else to claim that it is their bike if it was stolen.”

The Bike Hub was started in Gallatown to provide children and adults with a mode of transport, and teaches them how to maintain and fix the machines. It also runs a bike swap

The scheme has given p[eople transport to help them back into employment , and the bike spraying is used a therapeutic tool to help classes for people recovering from addiction and health issues.

Added Shuggy said: “One of our volunteers suffered a horrendous brain injury a few years ago. Getting out on his bike has totally changed his life.