Recirculate project gifts bikes to hospital staff for second year | News

For the second year running, bikes have been gifted free of charge to members of staff at the Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust, as part of a project aiming to reduce waste and increase sustainability.

The Recirculate project follows a ‘donate, renovate, locate’ model. Donations of unwanted bikes are sourced from the wider community. Bikes are renovated by prisoners in bike workshops, giving prisoners valuable work experience. The refurbished bikes are then located with NHS workers who are planning to use the bikes to cycle to work.

A fantastic response was received from members of the public in donating bikes for refurbishment. And there was again a huge volume of applications for renovated bikes from Mid Yorkshire staff, showing a strong requirement for active travel amongst the workforce.

Bikes were allocated using a range of criteria to ensure they were gifted to those most in need, including those on lower salary bands and who would be using the bike for their commute to work.

Following renovation at HMP Humber, the bikes were presented to staff at the end of July during a giveaway presentation day at Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield. 18 members of staff at Mid Yorkshire were gifted renovated bikes via Recirculate. These included clinical staff – such as nurses and clinical support workers – and non-clinical staff from a range of different areas across the Trust. Bikes were matched to the requirements of applicants as much as possible, such as size and bike type, to ensure they will receive the maximum usage from their new owners.

A further 10 refurbished bikes, which couldn’t be presented on the day, will be handed over to Mid Yorkshire staff in the coming days and will bring the total number of bikes given to staff at Mid Yorkshire to 52.

The Recirculate project has now given away over 640 bikes to NHS staff, and 811 in total.

Nicola Meadley, Project Manager for Recirculate, said:
“The demand for the renovated bikes was higher this year – hopefully staff are realising this is a genuine offer and are seeing their colleagues enjoying the benefits of cycling. Despite having given away so many bikes, seeing someone riding away on their ‘new’ bike with a big smile on their face is still a great moment.”

Alex Harrison, Sustainability Co-ordinator at Mid Yorkshire, added:
“It's great to see bikes generously donated by colleagues and members of our local community being given a second life through the Recirculate project. As well as supporting sustainable travel, the refurbishment process provides valuable rehabilitation opportunities for people in prison, reflecting the Trust's commitment to its role as an anchor institution. The fact that applications were oversubscribed demonstrates a real appetite among staff wanting to commute sustainably, whilst also improving their health and wellbeing. After the success of this second giveaway, we’re looking forward to exploring opportunities to expand further, creating even greater benefits for our staff and the wider community.”