Shoppers in Wellington in Shropshire can now take advantage of a free e-cargo bike delivery service so that they don’t have to carry their purchases home themselves. Volunteers from community charity Shropshire Cycle Hub have been delivering Christmas shopping, food and more in a bid to both support local businesses and also promote sustainable transport.
The BBC reports that shoppers can text a number and one of the volunteers will turn up on an e-cargo bike to collect their shopping and take it home for them.
"Wellington is a busy shopping centre," said Paul Kalinauckas, one of the volunteers. "You can usually find somewhere to park, but you might have to drive around for a little bit.
"The great thing with this is they can drop their bags with us and we'll run it home for them. We've done about 100 trips so far, so that's about 2-300 carbon miles we've saved."
Sally Themans of local web guide, Love Wellington, said the changing nature of the town centre was playing a part.
"A lot of new businesses have opened up in the last two years, so there's quite a lot of intrigue and interest in what is going on in Wellington at the moment,” she said.
"When the high street chains have gone, that's when we can have more agile, interesting, independent retailers."
One of those involved is The Little Green Pantry, a plastic-free shop offering food and household products where customers can fill their own containers.
Owner Keli King said: "I think it's fantastic, first of all for climate change – people can see e-bikes being used.
"For my business, it's great because when customers come and do a big refill shop, I can send their shopping off to their home and they don't have to worry about carrying it all."
Wellington’s free e-cargo bike delivery service is currently available every Thursday and Friday from 10.30am to 2pm and on Saturdays from 9.30am to midday.
The Shropshire Star reports that nearby Shrewsbury is now also planning on running the service through Shropshire Cycle Hub after agreeing to invest £13,000 in two e-cargo bikes.
