About us

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

We also run cycling proficiency training for refugee women in Croydon and Wapping. The course empowers and inspires these awesome people 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 small 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 ...

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...

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...

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.

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...

Sarah Payne

Sarah is a solicitor who works for Open Society Foundations, a global network of human rights organisations, ensuring it is compliant with its legal and regulatory obligati...