A NEW cycling and arts event comes to Shropshire this summer, and local sculptor Roj Williams has been commissioned to create a unique archway to mark the start and finish line.

On Sunday, June 28, Clun will be the base for the inaugural Tour d’Arts Alive, a partnership between the charities Arts Alive and Flicks in the Sticks, and professional bike tour company Rideventures. The event is a combination of cycling sportive and creative family fun, and will raise funds for Arts Alive and Flicks in the Sticks to continue to bring professional live performances, big screen films and live satellite screenings to communities all over Shropshire and Herefordshire.

Roj Williams has been making sculptures for more than two decades, primarily working with scrap metal to create incredible life size animals at his workshop in Craven Arms. Now he is turning his hand to a totally new project which will be the centrepiece of the Tour d’Arts Alive.

“As a local artist I am delighted to be making a contribution to this fundraising event, bringing the arts and sports together to create a truly wonderful day out for everybody,” says Roj, who plans to use old bike parts to create the archway, and he needs your old bikes and bike parts to create this truly unique sculpture, so if you’ve got an old bike rusting in the garage, why not put it to good use and give it a new lease of life as a work of art? It doesn’t have to be a complete bicycle, all spare parts are welcome, so if you’ve any scrap wheels, spokes, handlebars, frames you'd like to donate to the project, please email sian@artsalive.co.uk