Families who have unused bikes are being encouraged to donate them to the Get reCycling campaign, which returns to North Yorkshire household waste recycling centres during August.

The bikes will in turn be donated to schools and community groups via the Brownlee Foundation and York Sport, where they will be used for cycle training.

Many bicycles sit in sheds and garages unused, either because they need repairs, the owner has no-one to ride with, or the bike has been outgrown or replaced with a newer model. For that reason, part of the campaign will focus on signposting people to low-cost bike repair workshops and social cycling opportunities around North Yorkshire, where bikes can be fixed and put back into use with new friends.

The campaign, which will run throughout August, is organised by Yorwaste, which manages household waste recycling centres (HWRCs) on our behalf.

The Brownlee Foundation and York Sport are the main charity partners for this year’s campaign. The campaign will reflect the objectives of the Brownlee Foundation, which was founded by Olympic triathletes Alistair and Jonny Brownlee, to inspire children from all backgrounds to enjoy sport, encourage them to lead active lifestyles and benefit from the opportunities sport provides. 

York Sport work with children and young people in their own sports facilities and in the community with a similar objective to the Brownlee Foundation. For some young people, lack of equipment like a bicycle is a barrier to full, active participation. So some of the bicycles donated will be used by the charities with schools and community groups in Yorkshire.

The Recycle Project CIC will also be a partner and will distribute bikes to good causes through its 100 Bikes Giveaway.

If you have a bike to donate for reuse, please take it to one of the household waste recycling centres (HWRCs). All bicycles are welcome, but we particularly need bikes for children aged seven to 15 years. It does not matter if it has a flat tyre, broken chain or other minor fault. Bikes will be fixed before they are passed on.

Find further details of the campaign are available on the Yorwaste website.

Bikes can be taken all year round to household waste recycling centres for reuse and recycling, but those taken during August are donated to charity.

Small steps, big difference…

During Plastic-Free July lots of us will have taken steps by choosing to refuse single-use plastic. It doesn’t matter what choice you made, switching to reusable cups, avoiding plastic packaging, remembering reusable bags and bottles or many others; together our small steps make a big difference. Learn more about being plastic-free.