New bikes for Merivale students

Rugby representatives, including players and coaches, banded together this week to build six bikes for six Merivale School students.

Bay of Plenty Steamers captain Culum Retallick joined Tauranga Intermediate and rugby representative Lucas Cashmore, Steamers Bayleys number 10 players Dan Hollinshead and Paul Morris and Steamers coaches Herb Schuler and Rodney Gibbs in building the bikes.


The Merivale students with their bikes. Photo: Supplied.

The bike building was part of the Young Professionals event, hosted by Bayleys, held at the ANZ Business Centre on Cameron Road.

Sponsorship and events manager Allison Stewart says no one had any idea of what was happening, especially the children who the bikes were a big surprise for.

'It was a bit of chaos but eventually six bright and shiny bikes [were put together] and thoroughly checked by a bike mechanic.

'Enter six hardworking children from Merivale School, who had no idea why they were eating fruit kebabs at Bayleys on a Tuesday night, were introduced to accept their bikes as an acknowledgement to their tenacity.”

Allison says the Merivale School students were squirrelled away in the back boardroom while the bikes were being constructed.

'It was a networking function last night and the bikes were built for the community. we had a night where we got people together and unbeknown to them they did a puzzle and then went into the auction room where there were these bike to be put together.

'When all the bikes were completed, there was a bandana tied to each one and once the children were introduced, they matched the bandana on their arm to the bandana on the bike.”

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