Many of us have old training gear, accessories and race t-shirts that we don’t use any more; clothing and accessories that are perfectly useful but have been relegated to dusty corners of a room or closet.  Instead of throwing things out during an annual spring cleaning, we have a chance to donate such gear to a worthy cause.

Balgo Hills ( or Wirrimanu) is an Aboriginal community located on the boundary between the Great Sandy Desert and the Tanami Desert of central and Western Australia. It is about 280 kilometers south-southeast of Halls Creek along the Tanami Track, and approximately half way between Broome and Alice springs. The present settlement was established by the Catholic missionaries in 1964 and the population is roughly 350-400 people.
 
Balgo boasts a church, school, clinic, dirt football field, small store, art centre and rubbish tip.  It is famous for its artwork and has some very famous and successful artists.  Like many Aboriginal communities it has its problems. School attendance is very low and the rates of chronic disease such as diabetes and kidney disease are amongst the highest in the country.
 
Nicolette de Zoete is the first ever regular doctor the community has had, spending alternate weeks in Broome and Balgo.  Nicolette tells how "One of the local volunteers had an idea to set up a cycling group (the school had some bikes donated) and needed a mad female cyclist (me!) to help take the girls.  At the moment we have 2 groups (one male and one female) and only kids who have attended school the previous week can attend.  We ride on Saturday mornings to the local dam, on really rough roads, with bikes that have no gears and often no working brakes.  The kids ride bare foot and despite all the adversities often make it to the dam and back, even managing to collect duck eggs or snakes for dinner on the way! We plan to do a ride to the next community (about 45km away) in the near future."

Through Bicycle Victoria's Second Hand and Recycled Bikes program TriBal now donates gear and accessories to the Balgo Community. Please click here to learn more.