A Ukrainian family who fled the rockets and missiles of their homeland for the peace and safety of Cumbria are now all geared up for adventure.
The Zhura family have been donated three bikes by the Men In Sheds group which is part of the Northern Fells Group charity.
Mum Nataliia, Oleksander, 15, and Maxim, 11, were delighted with their surprise gifts.
Oleksander, who speaks a little English, said: “We have bikes at home and it is good to get these. They are very good. Very nice. My mum likes to ride hers every day.”
Nataliia and her boys escaped from their home near Lviv. Dad Sirgiy, who is in the military, remains in Ukraine.
They are staying with Hannah Osborne at her farmstead near Wigton. Hannah has taken in two families who have fled the war in Ukraine. A nearby support group from Wigton has arranged for both families to be supplied with bikes from Men in Sheds.
The regulars at the Men In Sheds group repair bikes, furniture and all sorts of general items that are brought to their base on the village green at Caldbeck. All donations go straight into the NFG fund.
When they heard that the family had moved into the area, they picked out the nearly-new bikes specially for them.
The NFG is a community charity serving 3,700 residents in a rural area that covers Ireby & Uldale, Boltons, Westward & Rosley, Sebergham & Welton, Caldbeck, Castle Sowerby and Mungrisdale.
Its aims include combatting rural social isolation and deprivation, to improve access to services, to enable people to remain independent, living in their own homes and in the area.
