A BENARTY group has donated 15 bikes to children in the area completely free of charge. 

Kids Come First, who run out of Benarty Centre in Ballingry, worked in conjunction with Cycle Scotland to deliver 15 new bikes to local youngsters. 

Michelle MacGregor, the manager of Kids Come First, told the Times: "Within sight of Benarty Centre is a children’s bike park, a skate park and a Multi Use Gym Area (MUGA) that are all underutilised. 

"Kids Come First has worked in conjunction with Cycle Scotland to try to get people back on bikes and using the facilities on their doorstep.

"We understand that not everyone can afford new bikes so close to Christmas time so we chose to give away bikes to the local community. The looks on these children’s faces were amazing." 

The out of school club advertised the giveaway on their social media pages and thanks to this, 15 kids went away with a bicycle on Friday, December 1. 

Michelle continued: "We plan to do the same in Easter alongside a safety campaign and hopefully by that time we will have secured storage to allow people to borrow bikes that we will keep for that purpose.

"This doesn’t just benefit Kids Come First, but the whole community."

It comes after Kids Come First was praised in its recent Care Inspectorate Report, showing the group's impressive progress since coming under new management.

The report, in which all of the findings were reported to be "good" or "very good" found that children were engaged, having fun and that the parents were happy with the services provided. 

It said: "Children were happy and engaged in their play. Children had fun as they played. Parents were happy with the service, children were actively involved in the planning process and the play and learning was child-led.

"Children experienced relaxed, sociable and unhurried mealtimes. The mealtime experience supported children's choice and helped to develop important life skills.

"Staff knew all children well and valued them as individuals. Personal care plans were in place and ensured children's needs, wishes and choices were captured.

"The staff team were motivated, enthusiastic, knowledgeable and genuinely cared for children. Staff were effectively deployed and communicated well together to ensure children were cared for and supported throughout their session.

"Management and staff should continue to embed formal monitoring and auditing of the service to support continuous improvement. This will ensure positive outcomes for children and families."

Michelle and her team were delighted with the improvements that they have made.

She said: "My amazing staff team and I are thrilled at the progress we have made with our care inspectorate reports in the two years since we took over the building, from weak to goods and very goods.

"The body of the report makes us proud of what we do."

But in order for them to continue they need support from the community.

Michelle added: "Kids Come First still needs funding to continue to serve the community and we would love for any business to donate to us. We would be very grateful."

To get in touch with Kids Come First, email them at enquiries@kidscomefirst.org.uk.