Cycling advocacy group, Bike Worcester, has launched a scheme to refurbish and recycle old bikes. The community group wants to help local people to make more healthy, sustainable travel choices with affordable bikes, as well as reducing the environmental impact of sending old bikes for scrap.

Making bikes more accessible

The purpose of the Bike Recycling scheme is to create value from bikes that would otherwise be left unused or sent for scrap metal. The volunteer-led scheme will mean that people in Worcester will have more access to affordable bikes. Our plans have been based on other successful schemes in the area, including Evesham, Malvern and Cheltenham.

We are working with Worcester Council and are exploring relationships with local charities to find people who are most in need of affordable bikes; we’re sorry we cannot provide bikes directly to the public.

Healthy and sustainable travel choices

We have already been donated a fair proportion of kids’ bikes which means we will be able to help parents who cannot afford to keep buying ever bigger bikes for their growing children. As well as providing immediate enjoyment, we hope this will nudge children towards healthy habits and sustainable travel choices that stay with them for life. Bike Worcester supports a number of family-focused initiatives for active travel, including Bike Bus for cycling to school and Kidical Mass.

By recycling bikes, rather than letting them be scrapped, we are greatly reducing the raw materials and energy consumption compared to making a new bike and disposing of an old one. This sustainability and energy saving benefit is really important right now and for the future.

Donate a bike

If you have a bike that your children or grandchildren have grown out of – maybe they have new bikes for Christmas – or you have a bike that’s sitting unused in your garage or shed, please donate it.

The easiest way to donate a bike is to bring it to the indoor bike parking area in Crowngate Shopping Centre opposite Vision Express on Friary Walk, just off Angel Place. When you arrive, use the intercom on the outside door or call the Centre on 01905 610065 to let the security staff know you are there, and they will come and secure it or take it directly to our store.

If you have several bikes to donate, please phone ahead, so we can arrange for you to drive right into the Crowngate loading area and have someone meet you and take the bikes.

Funding and support from Worcestershire County Council, Aquabio and The Crown Estate

Bike Worcester would like to express immense gratitude to Worcestershire County Council and local environmental sustainability business, Aquabio, for providing generous donations to Bike Worcester to provide the scheme with tools and equipment. Additionally, Bike Worcester would like to thank The Crown Estate for providing space and facilities at the Crowngate Centre free of charge to allow the scheme to operate.

Working with Crowngate Shopping Centre

We are grateful to the management and staff at Crowngate Shopping Centre for allowing us to use their storage and workshop space for our bike refurbishing. Our team of volunteers will be meeting regularly at Crowngate to work on the bikes and teach others more advanced bike maintenance skills. If you would like to get involved, please get in touch with Bike Worcester.

Philip Jones of Bike Worcester commented, “At Bike Worcester we believe that cycling should be an everyday choice for travelling around the city: to school, to work and to meet friends. With our bike recycling scheme, we want to make cycling accessible to more people, and at the same time ensure that bikes don’t go to waste or get scrapped unnecessarily.”

Mike Lloyd, Manager of Crowngate Shopping Centre added, “This is a great extension of the free Cycle Storage facility which we already offer at Crowngate, and is an amazing opportunity to do so much good for the community who can get involved.

This type of project is invaluable to communities as it helps to provide free skillsets which may just be to help you maintain your own bike but also could inspire future generations of engineers. The sustainable aspect of recycling bikes in itself is fantastic but cycling is an excellent way to get fit, clear the mind and enjoy sights that others may not see on many cycle paths throughout Worcestershire.”

About Bike Worcester

Bike Worcester is a growing community of people based in and around Worcester who are fans of the bicycle and its use as a regular mode of transport. As an active travel advocacy group, it is our aim to increase cycling rates in Worcester and the surrounding area by enabling and encouraging more people to use a bike, particularly for short journeys within the city.

We run regular events for families and for adults. We welcome new members from all parts of the community. Please check the event calendar and more details on our website at bikeworcester.org.uk