Charity ‘re-cycles’ 13,000 bikes to help Kirklees communities

Since launching in 2010, the Huddersfield Streetbikes charity - which runs most of its activities from the Princess Mary Stadium in Cleckheaton - has recycled over 13,000 bikes, which have gone on to be used by or given to Kirklees residents.

The charity estimates that around 80 per cent of those bikes are collected from three of Kirklees Council’s Household Waste Recycling Centres, where residents have taken broken or no longer needed cycles.

Gill Greaves, one of the founding members of Streetbikes, said: “We had a mad idea to set up a community cycling organisation and ended up giving birth to this amazing adventure that has seen literally thousands of people learn to ride, keep fit, socialise and make friends while cycling – we have had people tell us it has changed their lives.

“We have loads of people of all abilities come down on a Saturday for our family cycle rides on the track, it really is like one big family day out and thanks to donations of specialist bikes, we can cater for all abilities, including those in wheelchairs.”

The charity, which came from humble beginnings, has now grown to have around 20 volunteers, part-time and full-time staff.

Dave Greaves, senior mechanic for Streetbikes, said: “It was never our intention to see it get this big, but it is amazing to see it grow and have such an impact on people.

“We now have young offenders and those with learning difficulties on our mechanical courses. We give people the opportunity to develop, to feel good about themselves and that is all down to those thousands of bikes being collected and recycled by Kirklees Council – we certainly could not do it without the support it has given us over the years.”

As well as providing bikes for people to use at their organised rides, Streetbikes also sells them at discounted rates to people on lower incomes and if needed, they will give them away so that people can get to work, study, or simply exercise. Children can also trade up their bikes as they grow.

The charity also visits schools and other groups to talk about road safety and cycle maintenance and how to deal with a breakdown while cycling.

Kirklees councillor Coun Naheed Mather, cabinet member for environment, said: “Streetbikes is an inspiring story of success built on recycling supposedly waste items. It is quite astounding to see the significant impact the charity is having right across Kirklees.

“This charity is playing a vital role by giving people on low economies free transport during the current cost-of-living crisis and we must not overlook the health benefits they are gaining each time a Streetbikes cycle is used.

“The way Streetbikes changes so many lives on so many levels through the reuse of waste materials is something that Kirklees Council is proud to be associated with and will continue to support.

“We believe that waste should be seen as a resource, and if anything proves our case, it is Streetbikes.”

For more information, visit www.streetbikes.org.uk