It’s Volunteers’ Week 2023 (1st – 7th June)! Volunteers’ Week is an annual celebration of the contribution millions of people make across the UK through volunteering in their communities. To mark the occasion, we will be sharing a few stories from our excellent team of volunteers to celebrate them, to highlight the essential work that they do at The Bike Project and to give them a BIG THANK YOU. 

Today, let’s meet our Donation Sessions Volunteer, Ahmad, who received a bike from us earlier this year and has been volunteering in our workshop in Birmingham ever since. Ahmad is a 43-year-old man from Syria who is married with 3 children. He used to work in a construction company as a carpenter until he left Syria because of the war. Ahmad fled to Turkey and stayed there for more than 6 years, before travelling to the UK due to fears of being returned to Syria.

What do you do at The Bike Project? 

My work [in The Bike Project] is to [welcome] people who have received an appointment letter to obtain a bicycle from The Bike Project and help them choose the appropriate bicycle, equip it with a front light and a rear signal light, choose a suitable helmet, and so on. 

Why did you sign up to volunteer with The Bike Project and how did you first hear about us?

There was a girl working with the Immigration Department who helped me get my bike from [The] Bike Project and we talked about that I wanted to do voluntary work and that I liked what you were doing in helping people get a bike and she encouraged me to join you. Then I came with some of my friends from the hotel who came to get their bikes and I asked Yasmin [our West Midlands Operations Manager] about my desire to join you. 

“I naturally… feel happy when I help someone who needs help.”

Why is volunteering important to you?

Whoever needs help one day and receives help from someone he does not know and does not wait in return for his help is [someone who] knows very well the value of helping others, and I naturally love that and feel happy when I help someone who needs help. 

 

What’s your favourite thing about volunteering at The Bike Project?

In fact, I love everything I do there, but I love maintenance and bicycle repair. I may not have enough experience for that, but this is what I prefer. 

Why do you think the work The Bike Project does is important? 

I consider the Bike Project very important due to the importance and need for bicycles in the lives of many people [who] do not have the ability to acquire them, but the Bike Project helps them to do so. 

 

Would you like to become a volunteer like Ahmad? There are a range of ways you could get involved, whether it be in London, Birmingham or remotely.

Click here for more information on types of volunteering at The Bike Project or click here to fill out our volunteer application form directly!