DO you have an old bike that's gathering cobwebs in the attic or garden shed?

There are good homes waiting to give those tired wheels a new lease of life.

Cycle charity Glasgow Bike Station (GBS) is holding a Bike Amnesty as part of European Week for Waste Reduction, running until Saturday, which is also being supported by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC).

GBS is appealing for donations of old, unused or unwanted bikes and cycle equipment in all conditions.

In particular they are looking for children's bikes and balance bikes that have been outgrown.

Every bike donated will be either reconditioned and sold in the GBS shop in Finnieston or stripped for parts and recycled, giving unwanted bikes both a new lease of life and reducing harmful waste by diverting them from landfill.

Bike amnesty collection points have been set up for staff of the following organisations - Department for Work and Pensions in the city centre; Glasgow Life HQ at Collegelands; Skypark, Finnieston; and Eastbank Resource Centre, Shettleston.

There will also be drop-off points at Gartnavel Hospital campus at the 2014 Games Legacy Rack, in front of JB Russell House; and porters' yard beside the canteen at the Southern General Hospital - both on Friday and between 11am and 3pm; and a third, on Thursday between the same times, at the bike shed at the Vale of Leven Hospital.

Further collections can be arranged with the employers in the city and the organisation which donates most bikes will receive a maintenance kit for their bike parking area worth up to £100.

GBS is also offering to collect unwanted bikes - to arrange this, call 0141 248 5409. Unwanted bikes can be dropped off at GBS throughout the year.

And as an added incentive everyone who donates will receive a 20% discount voucher to be used in the Bike Station on all bikes, accessories and servicing, before Christmas.

This year there is a special appeal for children's bikes and balance bikes to support bike swaps delivered as part of a city-wide project Play on Pedals.

Play on Pedals, which aims to have every child in the city cycling by the time they start school, was a winner of the People's Postcode Lotteries Dream Fund and is delivered by national charity Cyclists Touring Club, GBS, Cycling Scotland and Play Scotland.

The bike swaps will offer families on low incomes the chance to swap an old bike for a new one in time for Christmas.

Scottish Paralympic tandem cyclist and double silver medal winner in this year's Commonwealth Games, Aileen McGlynn OBE, is the initiative's ambassador.

Aileen said: "Projects such as Play on Pedals play a vital role in the lasting legacy of the Commonwealth and Olympic Games by ensuring that children across Glasgow are learning a skill that will stay with them for life, allowing the next generation to enjoy all the freedom and adventure that cycling provides."

Meanwhile, Christmas will come early for young cyclists attending nurseries in the north-east of the city when good-as-new bikes arrive, courtesy of GBS.

Morven Bell, of Glasgow City Community Health Partnership, north-east sector local health improvement, who is supporting the first bike swap in the East End, said: "This is a fantastic opportunity for people to donate bikes they don't use. It doesn't matter if they are broken because they will be refurbished or used for parts.

"For local nurseries this will mean they have access to bikes that are safe and suitable for children to learn to ride.

"We are keen to promote cycling as it has both physical and mental health benefits and can have a transformational effect on the lives of young children and young people.

"It gives them independence, the opportunity to develop new skills, a fun way to maintain a healthy lifestyle and the potential to develop a passion for physical activity."

GBS is the city's largest bicycle recycling organisation and has recycled and refur-bished more than 10,000 bikes.

Most end up back on the road, sold, with the proceeds invested back into the promotion of cycling in Glasgow and the west of Scotland.

Visit www.thebikestation.org.uk/glasgow