The English Australia conference closed a few days ago. But I’ve stayed on in Sydney for some meetings, site visitations and to see family and friends. One meeting, in particular, I have been really looking forward to was with World Bicycle Relief’s Development Director Australia, Dagmar Geiger.
I was very excited to hear last year in May 2017, that WBR was opening a Sydney office.
Regular readers of this blog would be familiar with other posts I’ve uploaded about WBR’s bicycles-for-education programs – and this meeting was a great opportunity to chat with Dagmar in more detail.
World Bicycle Relief Australia – Meeting Dagmar Geiger
We met in a funky Newtown cafe and hit it off immediately.
Dagmar’s enthusiasm and passion for her work are obvious.
She is effervescent and thoughtful – and has a seemingly limitless amount of energy. Dagmar was also very interested in my blog, projects and PhD research and offered to help out where possible – which was so lovely!
We discussed WBR programs and how they are making positive changes in education, healthcare and income-generation opportunities. We also chatted about some events and fundraising efforts she has done.
It was especially interesting to hear about the stakeholder trip she took when she first started. On this trip to Africa, she got to experience first-hand the places, people and projects she now advocates.
It was lovely to be able to chat with a like-minded person who loves bikes and community building as much as I do.
It was a delight to meet Dagmar and hear what WBR has been working on. We need more people like Dagmar sharing stories of bicycles and the positive community impacts they make.
Spreading the word
Since starting her role, Dagmar has been working hard to raise the profile and networks for WBR in Australia and has had a number of high-profile successes including:
- In February, retired pro-cyclist Carlee Taylor XXI Commonwealth Games and Junior World Champion pro cyclist Alex Manly, and Olympian BMX pro rider Lauren Reynolds were announced as the first Australian Pro Althele WBR ambassadors.
- Dagmar was a guest speaker in Canberra at this year’s International Women’s Day breakfast and supported a number of fundraising rides on the same day.
- In March, a partnership with Rob Ward and Chris Peters from Quad Lock, one of Australia’s most successful bicycle products was confirmed.
I am very excited about the possibility of Dagmar visiting Brisbane.
As cyclists and riders, we inherently know how important, useful and significant bikes are. It is also humbling to hear about different experiences and contexts where bikes are helping individuals and communities conquer the challenge of poverty and distance to achieve independence and increase livelihoods.
World Bicycle Relief
World Bicycle Relief aims to mobilize people through the Power of Bicycles. They envision a world where distance is no longer a barrier to necessary services like education, healthcare and economic opportunity and are working towards increasing access and equity.
Since 2005, World Bicycle Relief has delivered over 400,000 bicycles and trained over 1, 900 bicycle mechanics and has changed over 1.7 million lives.
For more information and to support, please visit: worldbicyclerelief.org
Follow WBR on: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn
Image: World Bicycle Relief