Communities Fund has provided £550 of match funding
20 Years of Recyke y’Bike: Sustaining the Future
Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, United Kingdom
Your donation unlocks match funding
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Your donation unlocks match funding
Aim
Recyke y’Bike transforms lives with affordable bikes, training & support. Help fund vital IT upgrades to expand impact for the next 20 years
20 years of bikes. 20 years of people. 20 years of opportunity.
In 2006, Recyke y’Bike started with a simple idea: rescue bikes that would otherwise go to waste and put them back into the hands of people who need them.
A bike can be much more than a bike. It can mean affordable transport for a family struggling with the cost of living. It can mean independence for someone who has recently arrived in the North East. It can help someone get to work, college or an appointment without relying on expensive public transport or needing a car. It can also be the starting point for learning new skills, building confidence and becoming more independent.
We've just celebrating our 20th anniversary.
And we want to make sure Recyke y’Bike is equipped for the next 20 years.
Every year, more than 4,000 bikes come through Recyke y’Bike. Our mechanics and over 60 volunteers take donated bikes that have been abandoned or taking up space in sheds. We repair what we can, recycle what we can't, and put thousands of bikes back into use. Some are provided free through our referral scheme. Others are refurbished and sold through our shops, generating income that helps fund our charitable work.
But our work goes well beyond the bikes themselves. We provide opportunities for people to learn how to maintain and repair their own bikes, develop practical skills and build confidence.
Our projects include:
- Referral Scheme: Providing free bikes, helmets, locks and lights to people and community groups who need them, including children, families experiencing financial difficulties, refugees and people seeking asylum.
- Supported Volunteering: Supporting refugees and people seeking asylum to learn bike mechanics, build their own bikes and work towards a Velotech qualification.
- Young Volunteers: Teaching young people aged 13–17 practical bike mechanic skills, helping them develop confidence and valuable hands-on experience.
- Women’s Bike Maintenance Sessions: Empowering more women to access cycling by building their confidence and practical skills in bike maintenance.
- Dr Bike: Providing free bike checks, repairs and maintenance sessions at schools, workplaces and community centres.
- Byker Street Repairs: Working with Kids Kabin to take bike repair workshops directly into the streets of Byker, giving young people the opportunity to learn bike mechanics while working on their own bikes.
Our workshops not only give people the practical skills to keep their bikes on the road affordably, but also help develop confidence, independence and transferable skills that can create wider social and economic opportunities.
Help us upgrade our IT
It might not be the most obvious thing to donate towards, but good IT helps us do everything else we do better.
There's a lot behind our work than just tools and bike stands. Behind every bike, workshop and volunteer is a team coordinating referrals, managing projects, supporting volunteers, communicating with partners and measuring the difference our work makes.
Our IT is a big part of that infrastructure.
Much of our current equipment is old and needs replacing. We're therefore raising money to upgrade PCs and laptops across our offices, shops and training room, as well as improve the technology we use for remote meetings.
This isn't about buying shiny new computers for the sake of it.
It's about giving our staff and volunteers the tools they need to spend less time dealing with outdated technology and more time doing the work that matters.
Better IT will help us:
- Manage referrals and charitable projects more effectively
- Coordinate staff, volunteers and partners across our sites
- Communicate and collaborate more efficiently
- Track the bikes we rescue and the people we support
- Measure and demonstrate our environmental and social impact
This investment will help make sure we can continue putting thousands of bikes back on the road.
Help us build the next 20 years
For 20 years, Recyke y’Bike has helped thousands of people access affordable bikes, learn new skills and build new futures, while keeping thousands of bikes out of landfill.
Now, as we look towards the next 20 years, we need your support to increasing our impact.
Whether you donate £5, £20, £50 or more, your contribution will help strengthen the organisation behind the bikes and the people we support. Right now, your donations can have a huge impact on the work we do. That’s because Aviva's Community Fund will double every donation received in this crowdfunder, up to a value of £250 per donor/bank card.
Donate today and help Recyke y’Bike keep bikes and people moving for the next 20 years.
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 30th September 2026 at 6:00pm