My name's Dan Pearman and I'd like to talk about the work of Pedal Power, a small charity based mainly in the UK. I'll be giving our contact details at the end, if anyone would like to find out more about how to support us.

But first, how the charity began. I got the idea of exporting bicycles to developing countries while I was in Ecuador. I went there in 1993 just after graduating from university. After three years of studying, I wanted adventure. I loved travelling, so I decided to join a voluntary organisationQ11 and was sent to Ecuador to carry out land surveys. The project came to an end after five years and when I returned to the UK in 1998, I started planning Pedal Power.

Where I lived in Ecuador was a very rural area. My neighbour had the only bicycle in the village, whereas everyone else walked everywhere. My neighbour's business was unusually successful, and for years I couldn't understand why. Then I realised having a bike meant he could get where he wanted to go without much trouble.Q12 Other local carpenters could only accept jobs in a three-kilometre radius, so no matter how skilled they were, they could never do as many jobs as my neighbour.

At Pedal Power, we collect second-hand bikes in the UK and send them to some of the poorest regions in the world. When we distribute bikes overseas we don't give them away for free. We'd like to, but long term that doesn't really help the local economy The demand for bikes is enormous, which makes them very expensive locally So we sell them for 5% of the normal price. But in order to continue operating we need to have a constant supply of bikes which we send out every six months.Q13

One example of a own that's received bicycles from Pedal Power is Rivas. It was the first place I sent a full container of bicycles to. Most people there now own a bicycle. The local economy has developed so much, you wouldn't recognise it as the same place.Q14 In fact, there are more bikes than on the streets of Amsterdam, if you've ever been there.

But Pedal Power still needs your help. You may have read about some of our recent problems in the British media. In August 2000, we simply ran out of money. We had containers of bikes ready to send, but no money to pay the bills.Q15 It was a terrible situation. We managed to ensure the bikes went out on time, but the other problems carried on for several months.

Fortunately in October 2001 we won an Enterprise Award which helped us enormously. We invested fifteen of the seventy-five-thousand-poundQ16 prize money to help secure our future. Winning the award helped raise our profile, and the money enabled us to pay all our shipping costs, which represent our greatest expense. Pedal Power changes lives - when someone gets a bicycle from us, they see a 14% increase in their income.

We're currently looking to invest in computersQ17 so that our office staff can do an even better job. Because of our work, people in a number of countries now have a better standard of living - so far we've provided 46,000 people with bikes. But we'd like to send more, at least 50,000 by the end of the year.
Now there are many ways in which you can support the work. of Pedal Power, not just by taking a bike to a collection in your area. I should also like to say if you do have a bike to donate, it doesn't matter what condition it's in - if we can't repair it, we'll strip it down for spare parts. Of course, to do that we always need tools,Q18 which are expensive to buy, so we welcome any that you can give. Also, you could help by contacting the voluntary staff at our offices, they'll be able to suggest activities you could organise to bring in funds for us.Q19 People do all kinds of things - including, of course, s d bike rides. Also, we're always interested to hear of other places that would benefit from receiving a consignment of bikesQ20, and welcome suggestions from people who've been to developing regions on their travels. We hope that by talking on radio programmes like this, we will be able to raise public awareness, which will lead to government organisations also giving us regular financial support, something that we really need.

If you'd like some more information about where to donate an old bicycle or offer help in other ways please contact us on ...