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Re-Cycle Bike Project Organisers Thank Islanders Following 'Incredible Response'

Re~Cycle: Bikes to Africa had an amazing response to their request for unwanted adult bikes at the Saturday market in Newport.

Local co-ordinator Sue Bailey said:

“It was amazing. The bikes didn’t stop arriving between 9.30am and 3pm. We hoped to be given about 30 bikes and ended up with nearly 90.

“By 1pm it became clear there was not going to be sufficient room in the van, but the bikes kept arriving. At 3pm with the van as full as possible, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with all the extra bikes.

"Imagine my relief when the kind folks of Metier Ingenuity offered me a space to store the bikes until I am able to arrange another van and another crossing.”

Wightlink ferries have given a complimentary ferry crossing to Re-Cycle, allowing the  van load of donated bikes to be delivered to the charity’s
headquarters in Colchester, ready to start the next part of the journey.

In Colchester the bikes are loaded into shipping containers and shipped to one of four projects in the Gambia, Ghana, South Africa and Zambia.

In Ghana, for example, bicycles are distributed through village bicycle projects in which Re-Cycle gives village bike mechanics detailed training along with specialized bike tools and spare parts. 

This comprehensive, holistic approach ensures the bikes will be dependable, affordable and sustainable transportation.   

Women and girls, who are frequently marginalized, are specifically targeted for inclusion in programs which begin to address the gender inequalities that limit their access to bicycles.

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