Cycle recycling schemes.
Schemes can be throughout the UK and they take different forms. They all accept unwanted bicycles in the
form of donations. They can be from individuals giving away unwanted bikes, council recycling centres, dumped
bikes or recovered stolen bikes that cannot be returned to the owners.
Many schemes will take even the worst of cycles. They can be stripped down for spares, while Resurrection Bikes
in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, make craft product from them.
The programmes include The Bike Project, which is based in London and Birmingham. This charitable organisation refurbishes
unwanted cycles and donates them to asylum seekers and refugees. It also offers free cycling classes to refugee women.
A selection of restored cycles is available to buy at low prices so helping the charity continue to operate.
Between 2013 and 2021, 8,842 refugees and asylum seekers were given a free cycle, 4,352 bikes were sold.
565 women accessed free cycling lessons.
Adam Froggatt set up The Bike Network in Plymouth after recovering from bowel cancer. He cycled to
stay fit during his treatment and understood how cycling can help cancer patients and wanted to help support those
affected by the disease by offering free bikes.
The charity collects donated bikes which are then repaired before being passed on to a needy person. It also sells
donated cycle gear via an online store to help to funds.
Bikeworks is a volunteer-led enterprise based in Glenrothes, Scotland. It collects bikes donated by the
public and unwanted bikes from Fife Council recycling centres Itthen repairs them and gives them to needy families.
The organisation helps fund this charitable work by providing cycle servicing and selling cycles at low
prices. Bikeworks is part of the Scotland Cycle Repair Scheme, which supplies free cycle repairs and maintenance work
up to £50 per person.
Gav Auty, of Ossett in West Yorkshire, launched a cycle recycling scheme
when he was furloughed during the UK lockdown. It started with one bike which a neighbour was about to throw away.
He repaired it and gave it to someone who couldn’t afford their own.
Now Gav receives old bikes, fixes them up and donates them to those who otherwise can’t afford them. Since March 2020,
he has supplied more than 300 cycles to people around Yorkshire including Ukrainian refugees. He also sells a few of the models
via his Facebook page.
Gav says he is now busy getting “bikes ready for those who need help with presents, mainly for Christmas.
This is a small selection of the many schemes around the country.
Please dont skip your old bike or leave it to deteriorate at the back of the garage – DONATE IT.
