A fundraising page has been set up after a woman spotted a note left for a bike thief in Reading, UK from the owner of the bike pleading for its return and outlining how the person called Alex could not afford to pay for insurance or purchase a replacement bike.
The note prompted Rachel Thomas in Reading to post a photo of the note on Twitter and to set up a fundraising page on crowd funding website Justgiving to try and raise £500 to buy a replacement bike.
At the time of writing, the amount raised had surpassed the target amount which would allow the purchase of what was described as a “modest bike.”
The note left by Alex reads: “Dear Bike Thief,
“Have you ever thought that you make people’s day miserable?
“You might have seen that the bike is new and will be a good catch for you. Less you know that I could only afford that bike after one year of working my tears out. I was saving and dreaming of having a new bike one day. I only had it for a week…”
Alex goes on to say: “Please consider that not everyone is fortunate enough to by (sic) another one next day or pay any insurances. The bike was not insured. I would like to ask you to bring it back from where you picked it. I am happy to leave a reward attached to the rack £20.”
Seeing this note prompted Rachel Thomas to then post a photo of the message on Twitter with the comment “People of Reading… I would like to get Alex a new bike.”
She then set up the fundraising page with the following message:
I went into Reading today (24th January 2017) and saw a note taped to a bike rack.
The note was from “Alex”, appealing to the thief that stole their brand new bike. Alex had worked hard and saved for a new bike, only to have it stolen after a mere week of bicycle ownership.
My husband commutes on his bike every day, I enjoy the occasional trip to town on mine (I’m admittedly a fair weather cyclist!), but I understand the freedom a bike can give- and how amazing life can be when you have your own brand new wheels.
Now I googled the bike that Alex had pictured, and it’s a very modest, entry-level bike, sold by Tesco but now out of stock.
I would like to provide Alex with a new, modest bike. With mudguards, and a very secure lock, and also some bike insurance! Bikes also need maintenance- I’d love to be able to buy a bit of maintenance kit too- and a couple of spare inner tubes to fix the inevitable punctures (it’s normally me that ends up changing the inner tubes on the family bikes).
I don’t want Alex to regret recently moving to Reading- I love my little town. I love the people here, I love the town centre and I love our sense of community. I’ve been helped out by strangers before, and I’d love Alex to be able to not just see our town on two wheels but feel welcomed by its community.
To that end, I’ve started this crowdfunder to get Alex a new bike
I’d really love to hear from anyone able to help offer us a deal on as good a bike we can get for Alex.
Thanks for reading.
Rachel
You can make a donation on the fundraising page here.
Lovely gesture. Hope it doesn’t lead to loads of notes being posted around the country by chancers trying to get a new bike!