TO YOU or me, they just look like a collection of ordinary bikes....but to Martin McMillan they're his Freedom Machines.

When Martin, from Pollokshields, was a kid growing up in Glasgow's South Side, his own bike took him to places far beyond his own neighbourhood and showed him another world.

Now Martin is determined the kids living in the Gorbals will experience that same heady sense of freedom on their bikes.

How to apply for a grant COULD YOUR charity or group benefit from one of the Gannett Foundation 2008 grants? The Gannett Foundation, the charitable arm of the Gannett, owner of the Newsquest Media Group, provides funding to support local organisations and projects. Grants, up to a maximum of £50,000, should be for specified items or purposes, with detailed costings. The Foundation gives priority to: Projects of lasting benefit such as a specially adapted mini buses for elderly people or people with disabilities. Projects that benefit people with special needs either through disability or disadvantage. Sport, environment, conservation and local history projects. Please note that grants will NOT be given to individuals or organisations that are not registered charities. National or regional organisations unless the project addresses specific local community needs and political, religious or uniformed groups are also excluded. Grants do not cover salaries, training costs, publicity funding or general running costs. All applicants MUST be registered charities. We do not fund salaries or general running costs, e.g paying for computers etc. We do not give grants to schools, public or private, except to schools catering for children with disabilities and, or, with complex needs. Applications must be submitted on the official application form, which can be obtained from Liz Mulgrew, Evening Times, 200 Renfield Street, Glasgow G2 3QP. Tel: 0141 302 6505. E-mail: liz.mulgrew@eveningtimes.co.uk Applications must be in by next Thursday.

What's the betting, he'll soon be known to kids as the bike repair man'?

Despite the regeneration of the Gorbals, there are still major pockets of deprivation.

With children's bikes costing more than £100, many parents' budgets just can't stretch to them.

And even if they do have a bike, sometimes the cost of a repair defeats the family.

But when the Dan Flynn cycle and repair shop, run by Martin, opens at Gorbals Recycles next month, parents will be able to buy reconditioned bikes for their kids for £15-£20 and no bike will cost more than £30.

And repairs will be free for children under 16.

The project, which will make money from recycling textiles and cans, has been four years in the planning but it's finally coming together in premises near the Adelphi Centre in Commercial Road.

And thanks to a £4500 grant from the Gannett Foundation, run by Newsquest, the parent company of the Evening Times, Martin is able to buy the tools and equipment for the repair shop.

"We are very grateful. Without this grant, we would have had to delay opening the repair shop," says Moyra Lindsay, who runs the Gorbals Recycles Project.

At the beginning of the year, the project was awarded a big lottery grant - which has been enough to pay for a van and to employ Martin. The rest will go on running costs and salaries for the next three years.

You can see that Martin and Moyra, both splattered with paint, are putting their heart and soul into the project.

Money for the actual refurbishment of the building has run out so, despite the freezing conditions - the boiler has yet to be installed - they are decorating the building themselves... and Moyra has a chest infection to show for it.

But they are encouraged by the excitement of the local kids.

"They keep asking how long is it till you open?'" laughed Moyra, 44. "They just can't wait."

Everyone is thrilled that despite graffiti in the area, their building has been left untouched.

"This is a sign that we have been accepted," says Moyra.

"I put a letter round the houses telling people that we have to pay to get any graffiti removed and that would take money away from the free bike repairs."

Moyra, a single parent who has a teenage son and daughter, knows how it feels not to be able to afford to buy your child a bike.

"My son is 16 but he still doesn't know how to ride a bike," she said. "When he was small, I couldn't afford to buy him one.

"But we can take bicycles that have been donated, refurbish them and sell them back at a very low cost.

"We see the whole project as a sort of double-edged sword where we can raise awareness of environmental issues and recycling and also be able to offer a service for families on low incomes."

In 2003 Glasgow South East Regeneration Area set up a steering group to look at keeping income in the Gorbals and encourging recycling.

"We looked at projects all over the UK and were more or less stealing the best ideas from them," said Moyra shamelessly.

They were particularly keen on copying the hugely successful Castlemilk Community Can Recycle, (an innovative project which began when a local man began funding the repair of local kids' bikes by recycling cans).

"We got the idea of the bicycles from there," she admitted.

Martin, who is 40, had been unemployed for a year when he got in touch with Glasgow South East Regeneration Area.

"They led me into this," he said.

The former gardener had begun working voluntarily at the Castlemilk project and trained there to repair bikes.

He has been passionate about cycling since he was five-years-old and given his first bike. I've been tinkering with bikes since I was able to pick up a spanner.

"You made do when I was young. There wasn't a lot of money so if something didn't fit, you had a way of making it fit."

He doesn't have a car and has never learned to drive, cycling in to work every day.

"I'm slightly anti-car - not against anyone else having a car. Just me," he grinned. "I prefer the freedom of a cycle."

It's essential, he believes, for kids today to enjoy that same freedom.

"But this is the PlayStation generation. My own son (Martin, 15) will play a bike game, but it's hard to get him out on his bike or even out of his bedroom," he admitted.

"Whereas when I was that age I was out building huts and out on my bike. You couldn't get me to stay in."

He saw at first hand from working on bike repairs at Castlemilk that for many children, cycling gave them a break from sometimes tough family situations.

"I saw the benefit to the kids. Some of the stories are heart-rending. It makes you angry, but at least we make sure they got an escape."

The bicycle shop has been named after forgotten local hero Gorbals cycling champ Dan Flynn, who was born in Crown Street in the late 19th century. He was an all-rounder, champion swimmer, boxer and cyclist.

He was Scottish cycling champion and heavyweight champion of Scotland. Flynn even competed in the Olympic Games at Crystal Palace, London.

He trained the Hollywood star, Victor McLaglan, who fought with John Wayne in The Quiet Man.

The building in Commercial Road lay derelict for about 12 years and has been refurbished.

When it opens, it will not only have a cycle shop but also a second-hand clothes shop called Number 10.

"There was such a lack of community facilities that we wanted to create a hub, not just a shop," said Moira. "We want people to come and get involved."

When she canvassed locals, she discovered that they really missed a textile recycling business called Clyde Salvage which had moved from Ballater Street to Parkhead.

She is determined the new shop will get away from the dreary charity shop image. "We're quite selective in the goods we will be selling."

During the last four years, Moyra's dedication has gone beyond the call of duty.

She could regularly be seen around the Gorbals wheeling a supermarket trolley full of old clothes - for all the world like one of the Steptoes.

"I did feel like a rag and bone woman," she chuckled.

"We are looking to sell good quality goods at low prices. Any profit we make in the shop will go back into the charity."

lGorbals Recycles: 0141 420 3573, ext. 216.

lOther winners in the autumn Gannett grants giveaway were: Drumchapel Sports Centre Gymnastics Club which was given £5000 to buy an inflatable tumble track and new mats. Revive MS Support in Maryhill was given £6300 towards a new vehicle with wheelchair access. And £5000 for Community Can Cycle in Castlemilk.