Re-Cycle – Bikes Changing Lives

Re-Cycle is a small charity based in Essex that takes unwanted bicycles and parts from the UK and ships them to trusted partners in Africa.

We believe in an Africa unlimited by transport. Our sustainable bike re-use model has a dual benefit:

1. Bikes that have been languishing, unwanted in garages all over the UK are donated and put to good use, rather than ending up in landfill sites.
2. These bikes are then shipped to Africa, providing a cheap, sustainable and eco-friendly form of transport for people and communities who have no other way of reaching each other. In 2018 we sent 16 container loads to Africa, containing 8,000 bikes.

THE NEED FOR BIKES

649 million people live in rural communities in Africa, and many of these people must walk for long distances to reach crucial services and social support networks. Not only does this take a toll on health, it can also prevent children from reaching their place of education, denying them a good start in life.
Bikes provide an economical, easy to maintain form of transport. Having access to a bike can increase a family’s income by up to 35% and help to keep children in school. Other forms of transport can be either non-existent, or prohibitively expensive.

Re-Cycle choose not to refurbish donated bikes in the UK, and instead, after being quality checked, they are shipped to Africa and refurbished by qualified mechanics. In this way, our UK team have more time to source, check and ship bikes – and overseas bike mechanics (employed by partner organisations) have employment and can provide a place for new bike owners to take their bike for small repairs.
Bikes are cheap to repair, can last a lifetime when well cared for, and can be used by the entire family.

Salifu Bah is a fourteen-year-old Grade 8 student and attends St Bosco basic school in Sintet in The Gambia. He received his bike on 1st October 2018. Before he got his bike, it used to take him an hour to walk the 5 kilometres to get to school. He would sometimes have to leave before it got light and would often be late arriving.

It’s not uncommon for African children to face a ten mile walk to school. This often results in students being exhausted before class has even started. With a bicycle, this journey time can be reduced by 75% so students have more time and energy to focus on their lessons.

Not only did Salifu receive a bike, but he also attended Re-Cycle’s one day workshop, where students are taught how to maintain their bikes and when to take them to the mechanic. This means that students can identify problems before they become expensive to fix allowing their bikes to last longer.
Now enjoying school, Salifu’s favourite subject is English and he wants to become an education minister when he is older. He is also very happy that when he has finished his schooling, he will be able to give his bike to his brother so that he can use it to travel to school.

We aim to improve more lives, like Salifu’s through bicycle re-use.

Shipping over 100,000 bikes to Africa is no mean feat; and Re-Cycle are fortunate enough to be heavily supported by volunteers who are vital to the running of the charity. We receive no government funding and rely on the support of the trusts, corporate organisations, groups and associations, individuals and our own fundraising.

For further information on how you can support us or if you would like to make a donation of a bike of funds visit www.re-cycle.org

The charity also offers talks about the work of the charity to groups/associations, schools and churches. Please email [email protected]

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