About us

The Bike Project is a community of refugees, cyclists, mechanics and volunteers. Our mission is simple: to take second-hand bikes, fix them up in our workshop and give them to refugees.

We also run group cycle training for refugee women in London and Birmingham. The lessons empower and inspire women to feel the freedom of their very own bike – perhaps for the first time in their lives.

As well as our charitable activities, we sell a proportion of our wonderful refurbished bikes to the general public through our online bike shop. Every single penny we make from bike sales is ploughed straight back into the charity. This much-needed cash injection helps secure our long-term sustainability – and that means even more refugees cycling!

We're a young project and have a warm welcome ready for anyone keen to volunteer, learn practical skills and meet funky people. If that's you, drop us a line!

Our staff

We run a tight ship here at The Bike Project, with our office staff frequently wearing so many hats that it can become a fire hazard. Thank goodness they're all super-talented and hard-working!

Jem Stein

Founder

I set up The Bike Project after seeing how much my brother's old bike helped Adam, a Darfuri refugee I mentored at university. Now I'm on a mission to get every refugee in ...

Nicola Hill

Operations Manager

Nicola was a major force behind organising our Critical Mass bike ride to Calais in 2015. She then began volunteering as an instructor at our cycle training for refugee wom...

Leila Wong

Leila manages our women-only project where refugee women learn to ride and develop cycling skills in a supportive environment. She also manages our exciting new scheme - B...

Anna Chapman

After a varied marketing career selling fine wine and organic food (among other things) Anna took some time out to focus on her young family. A spell of freelancing followe...

Charlie Blair

Charlie rarely sits still and is often on the move between all The Bike Project sites. Whether in the office, in the workshop or out delivering cycle training at our 3 Peda...

Jess Miller

Operations Coordinator

I have nearly always known I wanted to work in an organisation that improves the lives of others. In 2017, I spent some time volunteering in refugee camps in Greece and thi...

Marta Terruzzi

Marta is a designer-maker with a passion for cycling. She joined The Bike Project in 2018 and is rapidly improving her bike mechanic skills as our workshop assistant while ...

Our mechanics

Without our mighty mechanics we couldn't refurbish so many beaten-up bikes and get them into the hands of refugees and the paying customers who help fund the project. Love them!

Stu Harwood-Hope

Stu is our mechanic-in-chief. Best known for daring repairs, rapping, drinking decaf-tea and teaching mechanics to refugees. Aged 15, Stu started tinkering with bikes down ...

Resom Michael

Resom grew up in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. Hard to believe it now, but he never had a bike growing up and had to save up just to hire one for a couple of hours....

Our trustees

Our trusty trustees are a treasure trove of experience, full of invaluable business and charity know-how that has been a huge factor in our success and our ambitions for the future. Hat tip.

Adam Ognall

Chair of Trustees

Adam Ognall is the Chief Executive of New Israel Fund UK, the leading organisation promoting democracy and human rights in Israel. Prior to this, Adam worked in the field o...

Victoria Kershaw

Victoria is a solicitor specialising in corporate law, and has over 25 years of experience working at City law firms, commuting by bike. She currently works at internationa...

Greg Cowan

Born in Australia Greg is a globally experienced commercial leader having worked in senior commercial roles for companies such as Amazon, Reckitt Benckiser and Pentland. Gr...

Annie Kurian

Annie Kurian is a Global Human Resource professional with over 12 years of end-to-end HR experience in diverse industries, including IT, Investment Banking, Business Proces...

Michelle Clark

Michelle Clark joined the board of Trustees for The Bike Project in September 2017, having previously been associated with The Bike Project through Lloyds Banking Groups as...

Jeremy Sandelson

Jeremy Sandelson was head of the firm's global Litigation & Dispute Resolution practice from 2009-2017, having previously been Regional Managing Partner of Clifford Cha...

Will Cardy

Will is an online marketing expert from an agency called Platypus Digital. Like many of our volunteers, he approached us offering his skills rather than the other way round...

Hannah Warwick

Treasurer

Hannah is a Chartered Accountant and is Associate Director of Finance at the Kew Foundation, the charity that fundraises for the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. She trained at t...