KOCHI: Nowadays, cycling is becoming an eco-friendly trend, both by the youngsters and the elderly. Indus Cycling Embassy in the city has always been in the forefront in promoting the vehicle as a ‘better’ option’.
For Prakash Gopinathan, founder of the Indus Cycling Embassy, the ‘Gift a Cycle’ campaign is much more than promoting cycling. The city-based cycling club has already gifted cycles to around five school students in the past few weeks
“The aim is to spread the message of woman empowerment through the endeavour. School students riding cycles is definitely a sign of empowerment. This campaign is being taken forward through our Green Army volunteers,” Prakash said.
Focusing on students from financially poor backgrounds studying in government schools in the city, the campaign is not a new one for the ICE. Adding that the campaign had been done last year as well, the ICE founder says that the initiative has become more frequent now.
“As part of the campaign, we collect Rs 50 from our volunteers, family members and friends. We are focusing on government schools since they have many students who are passionate about cycling, yet are not able to afford it. We speak to the teachers and select such students after a detailed study,” said Prakash.
The programme was launched recently, with Aswathy A Ashok, a plus-one student at GHSS Karamana being the first student to receive a cycle. City Mayor V K Prasanth had gifted her the cycle at the concluding function of the Green Congress .
Organising a number of activities to promote cycling as a ‘Greener’ and environment-friendly, the Indus Cycling Embassy regularly organises cycle rides and rallies for not just volunteers but also others who are interested.
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