A Wunstorf resident recently started offering a volunteer bicycle service for children and seniors. State parliament member Wiebke Osigus learned about the project on Friday and supported it with a donation.
Wiebke Osigus presents the donation to Birth | Photo: Daniel Schneider
Wunstorf (ds). Marcel Birth from Wunstorf has not been offering his services in Speckenstraße for long: Children. Retirees can get free help with minor bike repairs here. Birth, who lives in the core city with his partner and child, has also rented a garage there, which he uses as a personal bicycle workshop – he is a passionate mountain biker. The capacity of the dodo has now been available to the younger and older general public for almost three weeks.
But he has already caught the attention of big politics: On Friday, he received a visit from Wunstorf and Neustadt's state parliament member Wiebke Osigus. The professional politician has made it a tradition to make a donation to a local project at the end of the year instead of sending Christmas cards. Motto: "Donate instead of shipping."The private Osigus Christmas card budget therefore went to Birth this time – in the form of a voucher from a local bicycle dealer, so that the local economy would also benefit – to support his project and honor the local commitment.
Opening the garage
He got the idea for technical bicycle assistance because he saw children riding without lights on their way to school. But repairs to the lights actually play a minor role: most of them come because of problems with the brakes or the gears, says Birth. Only the evtl. Necessary spare parts have to be paid for, he then orders them himself for the cyclists cheaply by mail order. With the donated voucher, this can now be dispensed with for the time being – the next "customers" will get their spare parts for free.
Osigus, who together with Heike Leitner took half an hour to get to know the Wunstorf resident and his project in more detail, also chatted with Birth about the pitfalls of bicycle repair. Because even though Osigus is not part of the target group, she knows from her own experience how "tricky" bicycle maintenance can be in this area. The last time she bought a spare part for the gearshift, the dealer simply told her: "You only have to screw it on"." The gears on the state assemblywoman's bike are still not complete to this day.
Marcel Birth in his garage | Photo: Daniel Schneider
Birth, who is actually a roofer and works in a company in Großenheidorn, took time off for the visit by Osigus and the press yesterday (Friday). He doesn't want to compete with bicycle repair shops, even if they often only repair bikes that they sell themselves, he says. Birth can't imagine working commercially as a bicycle technician herself; bicycle tinkering is to remain a hobby and an honorary occupation. He appreciates his job, his employer and his colleagues far too much for that. The fear that there could be problems with the tax office or professional bike wrenches have also not come true – from all sides it receives only praising words.