Recyke-y-bike.

For years Dorothy Crow has been a keen cyclist and with her commitment to recycling she began to see the prospects for a new social enterprise in Newcastle Upon Tyne.

In 2006 she brought together these two aspects to create Recyke-y-bike. Having taken early retirement as an early years teacher and with her two children grown up and left home Dorothy saw the opportunity to start something new.

 

Having visited a similar project in Edinburgh she saw the possibility of creating a project in Newcastle. “There is no doubt about it that we need to get more cyclists on the road and cut back on our car use. We have got to make a real effort to use our cars less, our oil is not going to last forever and we need to prepare for a big change. It seemed obvious to me what had to be done and this idea seemed perfect!” 

If you don’t miss the sign for Recyke-y-bike and manage to stumble across its gates you will find it at the bottom of a hill situated under two huge railway arches. A volunteer testing out a newly restored bike in the open space at the bottom of the hill will let any visitor know they have arrived. What sits under the bridge is two arches filled to the rafters with second hand bikes, a workshop station and a small office tucked away in the corner. It is hear that you will find Dorothy, the founder of Recyke-y-bike welcoming you with a warm and friendly smile.

What they do

The effort this organisation puts into recycling old bikes is saving hundreds a year from landfill. In the three years that it has been up and running it has received approximately 4800 bikes as donations. Those who don’t know what to do with their old, unused and unwanted bikes can be safe in the knowledge that they are donating to a good cause. Some of the second hand bikes are re-sold to the public on Saturday mornings to a queue of eager buyers while others are given away to a number of the local charities. The organisation also regularly sends donated bikes to locations such as Afghanistan and Africa. Through its work the organisation is creating a greater sense of integration, reducing isolation in certain communities and promoting greater physical health through cycling. Its efforts are indefinably contributing to the fight against climate change and hopefully breeding a new way of thinking into the minds of many. Through reconditioning old bikes Recyke-y-bike also provides training opportunities to volunteers who can utilise their new skills allowing for greater job opportunities in the future.  They currently employ four part time workers and have a group of 25 local volunteers.

As word of mouth grew the organisation found that more and more people were coming along to find out what they were all about. Within a couple of months of opening Dorothy realised the opportunities available for volunteers who were currently out of work. They developed a volunteering application and began to get people onboard. Many of the individuals have not been in work for some time and the project enables the experience of new skills with the opportunity of employment at the end. “Some people that come to us may have mental ill health issues and are happy to continue to work voluntary. They may have had employment in the past but find the stress of commitment too much and find that the position brakes down. It’s up to the individual to decide what they want but the opportunities are here.”

In the past Recyke-y-Bike would enable the training in bike mechanics by sending volunteers onto a course in York. The now have 6 platinum level mechanics who are able to deliver that same training in-house to volunteers wishing to take on new skills for employment. “A lot of the people that come to us are passionate about bikes and they don’t have work. These young people are falling into our laps; it’s an obvious progression to make.” An important aspect at this project is the inclusion of all workers opinion. Regular discussions on how to move the project forward often throws up new roles that the volunteers can take on. Those who have been with the project for a while can take on new responsibilities and a clear job role. “We have such a great atmosphere here, we have the most fantastic volunteers and they act as great go between within the whole team. We offer a great amount of friendliness to those coming in from the outside and everyone feels part of the project.”   

Twice a week the project runs ‘fix your own’ bike sessions for those who don’t have the tools at home. Once a month they also run bike maintenance classes on Saturday afternoons. “In the old days Granddads used to pass these down to children but nowadays it doesn’t seem to happen as much so we can accommodate that”. The public can book in and learn skills they might not have had before. Dorothy, along with three other trainers, also delivers cycle training once a month to those wishing to become more confident with cycling on the roads. The education of the public is enabling more people to commit to their bikes regularly hopefully we will be seeing a reduction in the numbers of cars on the road.

Changes to other countries

The organisations efforts don’t stop with our own country. Within a few months of opening Recyke-y-bike Dorothy found they had more donations than they could physically restore. “There were an awful lot of good bikes that we just couldn’t manage. We couldn’t just dismantle them and save the good parts so I began to look into projects that had links with Africa.” Dorothy got in touch with a project in Colchester. RE-CYCLE has been shipping second hand bikes, parts and tools to African countries for over ten years now. By generating simple and affordable transport in destitute countries they are enabling children to get to school and parents to work and trade to support their families. The bikes also enable health and AIDS workers reach remote villages and even provide an ambulance service. Local partnerships distribute the bikes and with the tools donated they are able to teach people bike repair and maintenance. The workshops are coaching new skills and helping to build a sustainable development in third world countries.

SES met up with Dorothy while Recyke-y-bike was in its second year. “They assisted in smoothing out some of our problems with the trustees. They helped us to identify each trustee with a clear position within their role. I also needed some help in developing the business plan, I have never written one before Recyke-y-bike and they were a brilliant help. I have got some transferable skills from teaching that I can bring with me but I have never done project management. I am learning as a go along that’s what’s so great about it, you can never stop learning new skills and I love that about this project. I’m really proud of myself and I get such a buzz from it.”

Future

Recyke-y-bike looks set to be a project that just keeps on growing. Dorothy’s hopes for the future are to see more partnerships with projects linking into third world countries. “I have family in South Africa and I have been thinking about setting up our very own recycle-y-Bike over there. It’s very likely, I have been doing this now for three years and I feel anything’s possible!” With the organisations growing success it seems evident that Dorothy will be taking on more trainers to educate a greater number of the public about cycling. More volunteers will be taken on board breeding new skills and passing on their knowledge. “Councils in other areas would absolutely love to have projects like this up and running in their area. It would be brilliant if we could have drop off spots for people to bring there bikes. It would be brilliant to see us spreading out across the region. Getting in funding in to employ more people would be great also. They can leave here with new skills and go set up there own organisation or business in bike servicing. People need to just have the belief that they can do it and it’s really possible.”   

What Dorothy and many hundreds of other cyclists across England would love to see would be the development of metro travel to accommodate cyclists. Recyke-y-bike have carried out their own marketing research and it’s not surprising that a high per cent age of those purchasing bikes will be using them for commuting to work. “There is no linked up thinking between what the Government are saying about us getting out of our cars and Nexus. It seems simple, one extra carriage on the back of the trains purely for bikes and don’t let them come off in under ground stations. People would be happy to bike that little bit extra if they could use their bikes. One of our past trustees actually works for Nexus and he is really on the case it just seems vital.”  

“It just keeps growing and growing, it’s magic.”