A prison has donated more than 30 refurbished and recycled bicycles to a primary school to sell at its Christmas fair.

HMP Swaleside has handed over the bikes, which include a mix of child and adult sizes, to Halfway Houses school on Sheppey.

All the money raised will be used by the school's Parent Teacher Committee to subsidise trips, events and equipment for pupils in 2024.

The fair takes place at the school in Danley Road, Halfway, near Sheerness, from 3.30pm to 6.30pm tomorrow (Friday).

Hundreds of lost, unused or broken cycles, including some previously used by British Transport Police officers, have been fixed by prisoners in the Eastchurch prison's bike workshop.

It comes after Swale council approached Swaleside about working in partnership with the Canterbury Bike Project.

Prison officer and HMP Swaleside staff ambassador, Michael Alexander, is overseeing the project.

He said: “Our prison governor really wants HMP Swaleside to play a positive role within the community, so we wanted to figure out a way to give something back to those living on the Isle of Sheppey.

"Christmas is a time for giving and with the cost-of-living crisis and the festive season, which can be particularly challenging financially for parents and care-givers, we wanted to do something for the children and parents on our Island.

“We’re donating around 30 bicycles to the Halfway Houses Primary School ahead of their Christmas Fair.

"The bikes will available to buy for just £10 each – an incredible saving when you consider that even the more modest children’s bikes go for about £75.

"It’s HMP Swaleside’s way of giving something back this Christmas.

“I went to meet with the head teacher, Mrs Lindsay Fordyce, last week and she was hugely grateful that Halfway Houses had been chosen as our beneficiary for this initiative.

"The school has a strong family ethos, so she loves the idea of giving parents and guardians and children the chance to ride bikes together.

"We’re hoping we can do more with them next year too.”

At the same time, prison staff have the chance to buy discounted bikes from the Swaleside bike shop.

The bikes will be on display in the Employability Hub Zone One for a day and then on a digital catalogue for staff to bid on.

"Christmas can be a challenging time for prisoners but to know they’ve been able to contribute to their community in some way will certainly bring about some joy...”

They range from a variety of mountain bikes, racers, BMX's and beach cruisers.

The money raised from the internal bike auction will be to buy new tools for the prison workshops.

Andy Shannon, who runs the bicycle workshop at HMP Swaleside, added: “The partnership with Swale council is working really well.

"They’ve given us a bunch of bikes in a bit of a state and the workshops team have been able to show the prisoners how to fix and refurbish them so they’re road-worthy again.

"Some of our prisoners have never owned a bike before but now they have the skills and understanding to fix a puncture, change the chain, replace the gears – all of it.

"Christmas can be a challenging time for prisoners but to know they’ve been able to contribute to their community in some way will certainly bring about some joy.”