Weekly conference call meeting from home

Re-Cycle Bicycles to Africa

This week’s meeting of the Rotary Club of Dunmow included an excellent talk by Lindsay Hurrell of Re-Cycle.  Re-Cycle is a small charity based locally in North Essex, who receive used bikes, and ship them to rural communities in Africa. 

Across the UK thousands of bikes are thrown away or lie unused in sheds and garages, whilst many people in Africa are forced to walk for hours carrying heavy loads to get to market, school, work and to fetch water and crops. 

Enriching the lives of those less fortunate, by giving them the independence of a bike really does change lives.  The bikes provide people with opportunities to gain new skills and sustainable income which enables them to invest in their own projects. 

Bikes which may not be suitable to send to Africa are stripped down for spare parts or are repaired and sold to the community in the UK. 

The charity was formed in 1997 and since then 118,000 bikes have been sent to African countries.  Imagine where those bikes might have ended up if they hadn’t received them?

Re-Cycle touches the lives of people in the UK, as well as overseas, by providing life skills and social support to a diverse community through their volunteering programme. 

Donating bikes helps change lives, reduces the impact on landfill and makes for a cleaner environment.If you would like to donate a bike, please find your nearest drop off point via their website  www.re-cycle.org  or call them on 01206 617865