Our warehouse and central collection point is in Colchester, Essex
This is where bikes are taken in, prepared for shipment and every four weeks or so, loaded into shipping containers that are sent to our various partner organisations in Africa. Please note that we do not have the resources to pick up bikes.
Re~Cycle
Unit A Global Park
Moorside (off East Street)
Colchester
Essex
CO1 2TJ
Tel: 01206 863111
Open: Tue to Fri 09:00 - 17:00, Sat 09:00 - 13:00
Other Re~Cycle collecting points
We also have drop off points in
- Ipswich
- The Isle of Wight
- Cambridge
- Newcastle
- London - 5 locations, central and SW
Ipswich
Thanks to the efforts of our long term supporter Kevin Ablitt (Ipswich's well known Bicycle Doctor), donations of bicycles from the Ipswich area are building up. Kevin has been collecting bicycles, mainly in the evening, and then bringing them down to our warehouse to be included in the next shipment out to Africa. If you have an unwanted bike that you would like to given a new lease of life please ring Kevin 07887 788 972 to arrange a collection.
It would however be extremely helpful to have somewhere to store the bikes until the next delivery to Colchester. If you have an unused garage or large shed or even something a little larger still, Kevin would be delighted to hear from you. It would help to increase the number of bikes we collect and ship and ultimately, increase the number of people in Africa who benefit. Thank you and thanks to all who have donated bikes and supported our work.
Isle of Wight
Bikes are collected for us by a great team of people on The Isle of Wight who, two or three times a year, bring up a big van load of 100 bikes or more to us in Colchester for us to ship to Africa. It's a real local community team effort - a local van hire company generously lend a vehicle for the day and the ferry company donate a free crossing. Bikes can be dropped off at:-
The Ticket Office, Southern Vectis Bus Station, Newport between 10:00 and 16:00 seven days a week. The collections and transport of the bikes to Colchester is co-ordinated by Tony Harding,
Tel. 01983 864231
Mobile. 07905 062076
Email. anthony.harding@homecall.co.uk
London
19 Dacre Street
Victoria
London
SW1H 0DJ
Tel. 020 7799 2233
Web site. www.actionbikes.co.uk
Open. Mon to Fri 08:30 - 18:00, Sat 09:30 - 17:30, Sun closed
Busy bike shop, now kindly accepting donations of bicycles and spare parts for Re-Cycle
Action Bikes Embankment
23-26 Embankment Place
Northumberland Avenue
London
WC2N 6NN
Tel. 020 7930 2525
Web site. www.actionbikes.co.uk
Open. Mon to Fri 08:30 - 18:00, Sat 09:30 - 17:30, Sun 11:00 - 16:00
Busy bike shop, now kindly accepting donations of bicycles and spare parts for Re-Cycle
Action Bikes Wimbledon
221 The Broadway
Wimbledon
London
SW19 1SD
Tel. 020 8540 0313
Web site. www.actionbikes.co.uk
Open. Mon to Fri 08:30 - 18:00, Sat 09:30 - 17:30
Busy bike shop, now kindly accepting donations of bicycles and spare parts for Re-Cycle
Action Bikes Sheen
437 Upper Richmond Road
East Sheen
London
SW14 7PJ
Tel. 020 8876 5566
Web site. www.actionbikes.co.uk
Open. Mon to Sat 09:00 - 18:00, Sun 11:00 - 16:00
Busy bike shop, now kindly accepting donations of bicycles and spare parts for Re-Cycle
Action Bikes Whitton
54-56 Whitton High Street
Whitton
Twickenham
TW2 7LT
Tel. 020 8894 0174
Web site. www.actionbikes.co.uk
Open. Mon to Sat 09:00 - 18:00, Sun 11:00 - 16:00
Busy bike shop, now kindly accepting donations of bicycles and spare parts for Re-Cycle
Bikes are also regularly donated to us by two bicycle recyling projects in Newcastle upon Tyne and Cambridge
Newcastle
Recyke y'Bike
Unit 2, Railway Arch, Hannington Street
Byker
Newcastle
NE6 1JT
Tel. 0191 265 4197
Email: recyke@cooptel.net
Web site. www.recyke-y-bike.org
Open. Mon, Tues, Wed & Sat 10:30 - 16:00
Recyke y'Bike is a great charity and transport company that runs a busy bike reuse and recycling project. They very generously send bulk shipments of bikes to Colchester to help us make up the number required to fill the containers that we ship to Africa and have also donated much appreciated funds. We are delighted to work closely with them, exchanging ideas, suggestions of best practice and offering mutual encouragement and support. If by chance you know of a company that could help with the logistics of bringing bikes from Newcastle to Colchester, Dorothy at Recyke y'Bike would love to hear from you.
Cambridge
The Bike Shed
Unit 29 London Road Industrial Estate
Pampisford
Cambridge
CB22 3EE
Tel. 01223 839580
Web site. www.owlgroup.org.uk
Open. Mon to Fri 09:00 - 17:00, Sat 09:00 - 12:30
OWL Bikes (now part of The Papworth Trust) is a well respected social enterprise that provides training and learning opportunities at their popular bike reuse and recycling project. They very generously donate bikes, surplus to their requirements to us. We have previously partnered with OWL and Sawston Village College and together collected a large number of bikes that we shipped to Lesotho. If by chance you know of a company that could help with the logistics of bringing bikes from Cambridge to Colchester, Re-Cycle would love to hear from you.
Tips For Delivering Bikes
- Bikes come in regularly and are always welcome so if it saves making a special journey, please bring the bike when you're coming this way.
- Taking the front wheel off makes it easier to get bikes in the back of your car.
- A bike will fit into most small cars if the back seats are folded down.
FAQs
Do you collect bikes?
We do not have a vehicle to collect bikes and so we have to rely on people bringing the bikes to us. We realise that not everyone is able to do this themselves but if you have a friend, relative or neighbour who comes to Colchester who could bring the bike, we would be very grateful.
I would like to donate my cycle but I live a long way away from Colchester...
If you are far away and and not able to get your bike to us to ship to Africa but would like you bike to go to another bike reuse project, please use our search facility to find your nearest bike recycling project; any of the worthwhile projects on this list would be pleased to make good use of it.
We have collected a large number of bikes...
Please contact us if you have a large number of bikes (30+) so that we may discuss possible ways of getting hold of them.
Alternatively...

If it's not easy to get a bike (or parts, or tools) to us, please sell it in our Ebay charity shop (click here). You can say how much of the sales prices goes to Re~Cycle, from 10% to 100%. The listing fee is refunded proportionally, so if you're kind enough to give us 100%, the listing is free. There are more details about the scheme HERE.





