RECYCLE Devon has launched a series of public, free to attend repair, refurbishment and upcycling events to take place throughout 2015.

The events will pass on skills and ideas to keep bicycles, electrical goods, furniture, clothes and other textiles from going to waste.

The initial series of workshops will focus on repair and maintenance of bicycles intending to help people bring a long, forgotten bike back into use that might otherwise have ended up being scrapped.

The events will be run by Exeter cycling charity, Ride On and will be based on their popular two hour long ‘Get You Home’ course.

The workshops will be FREE to attend but bookable as only a limited number of places are available for each session.

Details for each session are as follows:

At Ride On, 61 Haven Road, EX2 8DP Friday 10 April – 9am-11am or 11am-1pm At Pinbrook Road Recycling Centre, Pinhoe, EX4 8HH Saturday 25 April – 10.30am-12.30pm Wednesday 29 April – 10.30am-12.30pm Saturday 9 May – 10.30am-12.30pm

The workshops will cover: • The M-check – a simple pre-ride safety check

• Wheel removal and replacement

• Quick brake adjustments

• Fixing punctures

• Bike Repair Toolkits

In addition, Ride On will be holding a bike amnesty from Tuesday, April 7 to Saturday, April 18 (apart from Sunday, April 12 or Monday, April 13) offering the chance for unwanted bikes to be donated for the benefit of giving others the chance to ride again.

Bikes will be accepted between 2pm and 5pm.

For people interested in coming on the course but don’t have a bike to work on then Recycle Devon, in conjunction with SITA, will be able to provide a bike to practise on.

Chairman of the Waste Partnership, Cllr Ray Radford said: "We are committed to the principle of trying to reduce the amount of waste generated by residents and the re-use of waste materials wherever possible. Reusing an item rather than throwing it away can prolong its useful life, reduce the need for finite valuable resources and create jobs in terms of repair and maintenance.

"In Devon, the Ride-On charity has excelled in promoting and developing re-use and I would encourage people to come along to workshops and take advantage of the free training on offer."

Roger Croad, Cabinet Member for Community and Environmental Services said; "We are pleased to have received funding from the Government's Innovation in Waste Prevention Fund for the Devon Reuse Project which will provide an opportunity to increase the amount of items that will be salvaged from the waste stream and given another life and put to good use.

"We would like to encourage the public to value and see the potential in something that might otherwise have been disposed of."