Vineyard Hotel employees on bike drive

THE Vineyard Hotel in Newlands, Cape Town, has recently joined the international non-profit Bicycle Empowerment Network (Ben) to: improve staff performance and general employee health; promote empowerment and reduce excessive monthly travel costs. Ben is said to promote the use of bicycles in order to address: low-cost mobility; health and access to opportunity; employment; skills and education. The organisation has designed low-cost ‘Californian bikes’ for this purpose, which are all load bearing bikes with racks, mudguards, trailers, bells, lights and reflectors. In addition, Ben requires all programme participants to go on a road safety and bicycle maintenance course to educate, empower, improve overall riding safety and cancel excessive outlays on bicycle servicing. The Vineyard Hotel, a four-star deluxe hotel situated along the banks of the Liesbeeck River, offers 160 luxury rooms, conferencing facilities and two restaurants. (Natalia Thomson)