About us
We’re passionate about getting more people on bikes
Who we are and what we do
Bridging Communities, Transforming Lives
Recyke y’bike is a charity. We’ve been established since 2006 and generate the majority of income through sales of refurbished bikes and servicing bikes. Every year we give away hundreds of bikes to referred individuals and deliver a number of free bike maintenance workshops to different groups of people.
Why? We do this because we believe that bikes are brilliant and address a variety of health and social issues. Cycling is proven to have beneficial effects on physical and mental health. It’s an affordable and environmentally friendly form of transport. The skills required to fix a bike can be easily taught and transferred to other settings.
See our annual report
Building Skills & Community Capacity
To develop the capacity and skills of the socially disadvantaged community of the North East of England in such a way that they are better able to identify, and help meet, their needs and to participate more fully in society.
Promoting Public Health
To preserve and protect the health of the public by encouraging cycling.
BikeWise Education
To advance the education of all ages of the public in the safe use, re-use and maintenance of bicycles.
GreenCycle Initiative
The protection and preservation of the environment for the public benefit by saving bicycles from landfill, the promotion of bicycle re-use and recycling.
Our team
Our passionate team
Andy Hunter
Trustee
Matthew Kontarines
Treasurer
James Gray
Byker Shop Manager
Phil Thomas
Chester le Street Shop Manager
Ryan Collins
Mechanic - Byker
Will Morris
Mechanic - Byker
Nick Janczak
Mechanic - Byker
Volunteers
Volunteer with us
We have a team of 40+ volunteers supporting us and being supported. Many of our volunteers are just looking to give something back, but some also have some additional support needs. We’re focusing on supporting veterans, refugees and people seeking asylum and under 18’s at present. All volunteers are welcomed, provided with a place where their contributions are valued. Volunteers receive training in cycle maintenance and are supported to work as part of a team including communicating, negotiating, taking responsibility, and demonstrating self-motivation. All of these are key employability skills. The majority of our staff team started out as volunteers, and we’re proud of our record of former volunteers who now have paid jobs in other organisations as well.
Become a volunteer
FAQ
We may already have an answer to your question.
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What does the money go towards?
Some funders and donors will sponsor projects such as our referral scheme or young volunteers club, others will fund core costs like bills, building rent etc. and some will fund capital purchases such as vehicles and building materials, tools and equipment.
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How do I become a corporate sponsor?
In the first instance reaching out to our CEO, Jack Swain (jack@recyke.bike) who handles all of our corporate partnerships.
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Can we see the results of the money donated?
Yes! We share our work on social media and in our news section. If you are a current or prospective funder we can arrange hosting you to come and see the work we do in person.
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How can corporate partners support without donating?
A lot of our corporate support isn’t about money, we have many partners that donate products and services, staff time as volunteers, sharing the work we do on social media and supporting our fundraising efforts like golf days, sponsored rides and runs, bake sales etc.
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If I donate where will my money go?
Unless otherwise stated your donations will go towards the core costs of the charity. This could be; Building rent, utilities, staff wages etc.