Perthshire doctor repairs dozens of old bicycles for Ukrainian refugees

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A doctor has swapped his stethoscope for bike tools fixing up bikes for Ukrainian refugees. All the bikes are going to a Perthshire charity providing aid and support to those fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The NHS Tayside doctor - who went viral with his COVID posts at the height of the pandemic - is now spending his spare time repairing old bikes locals have generously donated.Over the past month respiratory consultant Tom Fardon has fixed 30 bikes and currently has another 20 to work on.The Ninewells-based doctor is a keen cyclist and chairs the Carse of Cowrie Velo Cycling Club.Errol-based charity Tayside and Strathearn Help for Ukraine (TASH4Ukraine) contacted Tom after being gifted a number of bikes to send to refugee camps and orphanages in Eastern Europe.Tom told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "These bikes were in various states of repair."TASH4Ukraine asked if I could check them over, and make sure they were safe to ride.

Some of those first 15 bikes needed a lot of work, but I was able to fix them up using spare parts from my cupboards. When those were picked up, the charity dropped off some more!"Tom posted some pictures on his Facebook page.

Following that he had "an amazing response" from locals donating more bikes.He said: "In the last month I have repaired 30 bikes, and have another 20 to look at and repair.