The first container of bikes is in Lesotho,

This is a new partner first shipped to in Winter 2008, to a project called
"Beyond Bikes", based in the capital, Maseru.
Harper Brown helped to set it up and it is being run by Seamus McCarthy

The focus is on OVCs and training, and they're looking to get the next
container of bikes early 2010.

Bike 30,000

Re~Cycle has shipped its 30,000th bike! It went to a new project in
Zambia called the Kaloko Trust. The Kaloko Trust has a volunteer who is
going out for three months to train bicycle mechanics and set up two
workshops.

Bike no. 30,000 was donated by Trevor Moles of Colchester. It belonged to
his wife's auntie, who sadly broke her hip and is no longer able to ride
but wanted her bike to be given to someone in Africa.

You can find photos and information about this particular bike and its
story on the home page (http://www.re-cycle.org).

Transport for London sponsored ride

Transport for London rode the first leg of the Tour de France, from London
to Canterbury, on 6th June, to raise money for Re~Cycle. Well done, guys
and gals!

New website

If you haven't looked in a while, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised
by Re-Cycle's new web site. It has, among other features, a bike-o-meter,
which shows how many bikes we have shipped, and to where. It is set up so
that users can edit the site from anywhere.

There are many ways you can help make Re-Cycle.org a better web site, for
example proof reading and writing, as well as more technical and creative
things. If you have the time and the talent, please drop us an email!

Re-Cyclopedia and Bike re-use forum

We are currently prioritising building the new "How to" section of the web
site, the Re-Cyclopedia, with directly editable areas as well as downloads
on best practices for setting up and running operations, building and
customising bicycles, and anything else that makes our line of work
smoother and better.

With this we want to make it as straight forward as possible for
enthusiasts to set up a bike re-use project, pack a container, and train
mechanics. This is a joint venture with other bike shipping and re-use
groups, and will be free for all to use. If you feel you can contribute
we would be very happy to hear from you!

We are also building a forum where bicycle re-use enthusiasts, sender and
receiver organisations all over the world can network and share resources.

Check out progress on the Re~Cycle web site!

The Disney corporation sponsored a bike ride

This happened recently, and all went well - see the links to this story
from our home page, http://www.re-cycle.org. Re~Cycle sent a video with
good luck wishes that was shown during the pre-ride dinner.
They are keen on this becoming an ongoing relationship, which we are very
excited about.

UK expansion, including London

Some of the money from the Disney and TfL sponsored rides will be put to
the following uses:
- helping to set up new African partners, with shipping, tools and
purchase of the first container for use as secure storage
- setting up new UK collection hubs, specifically looking at London
(please get in touch if you'd know of any likely locations or would like
to be involved). I'm keen that Re~Cycle provides refurbished bicycles for
the Olympics, as they aim to be green, and we can ship them to Africa
afterwards, spreading the benefit and helping the next generation of
Olympians. Other aims would be networking with existing local bike reuse
groups and expanding the work we do with Youth Offending Teams (YOT), some
of which refurbish bikes for shipping and train the youth
- recruit a fundraiser, which will help the sustainability and growth of
the charity

Just Giving

You can also find an online sponsorship form on Re-Cycle.org, which was
set up for the Transport for London and Disney sponsored rides. We have
had lots of other people signing up, and have a special "In Memory of"
page.

So far GPB2,815 has been raised, which is fantastic - many thanks to all
of you!

Set up a page for your own event (and see a list of other people's rides)
here: http://re-cycle.org/Donate/Money

Re~Cycle Film

Re~Cycle has had an 8 minute film accepted for the Bicycle Film Festival
(BFF) in New York and London, hooray for us!

Rita Solanke has put a lot of effort into getting this film made (thank
you Rita!), and we hope it will be shown in the other 15 BFF venues as
well as New York and London. We will pursue other film festivals and
outlets for it to be shown and spread both the Re~Cycle story and some
inspiration.

Once it has done the festival rounds we will put it up on the web site,
where it will join a short film about Re~Cycle which was made by the
Colchester Film Makers Club in our video section.

WANTED: New partners

We need more partners both in the UK and Africa to match up the stupendous
levels of supply and demand. Although figures are hard to come by, it
seems there are 2,000,000 bikes sold every year in the UK.

Recyke-Y-Bike, a bike re-use project in Newcastle, has sent down more
bikes and parts for Africa, as well as a generous donation. We have also
received a consignment of bikes from Isle of Wight. Thanks, guys!

You can find a list of some bicycle re-use projects on the web site (UK
only at the moment), and we are in the process of expanding this so that
we can provide a comprehensive and easily accessible data base - all in
the good cause of putting more good people on more good bikes, all over
the world.

If you can help with this project, we would love to hear from you.

SOME WAYS YOU CAN HELP:

- spread the good word
- donate bikes, parts and tools
- donate money
- do a sponsored event (and tell folk who do sponsored rides about us)
- Give As You Earn (GAYE, tax effective pay roll giving)
- ask your company to support or run a raffle, do a ride...
- collect a box of mobile phones (preferably with the matching charger)
and post them to us

Very Many Thanks to everyone who helps Re~Cycle, from the growing number
of volunteers, to donors, to bicycle donors, to sponsored riders, to the
staff and trustees.

Be well, and keep the wheels moving.

Cheers

Merlin Matthews~
Founder ~ Re~Cycle ~ Bicycle Aid for Africa
http://www.re-cycle.org ~ PLEASE DONATE, on or off-line
+44 797 073 1530~~~~~
Skype: Merlin_Matthews
Sightspeed: Merlin.Matthews

We ship unwanted bikes to Africa and teach local people maintenance skills