2016
Added: 15th January 2020
DECEMBER 2016
Want to be a part of the biggest cycling event in Yorkshire?
The Maserati Tour de Yorkshire Ride offers a unique mix of Tour de France delivery combined with Yorkshire hospitality and beauty resulting in a sportive dream day.
Taking place on the 3rd and final day of the Tour de Yorkshire (Sunday 30th April), this is your chance to ride many of the same roads as the pros before they do, including the pro finish line, complete with support from the waiting crowds.
With three routes available (long route 100km, medium route 75 km and short route 45km) this once in a lifetime experience really isn’t to be missed for any biking enthusiasts out there.
Margaret Carey Foundation has been lucky enough to secure guaranteed places in the ride and we want you to join our team.
To enter all we ask is that all cyclists to pledge to raise a minumum of £150 in sponsorship for MCF. All TEam MCF cyclists will receive a cycling jersey to wear during the event.
The money raised by the cyclists in this event will help fund a new MCF van. With over 200,000 miles on the clock our current van is coming to the end of it’s working life and urgently needs to be replaced. Reliable transport is important for all organisations but for MCF it is simply crucial: being able to upply prison sites is fundamental to our day to day operations, as is getting refurbished bikes from the prison down to community projects for bike sales or donations.
The Tour De Yorkshire is a popular event and is sure to sell out quickly, if you would like to join Team MCF be a part of this unique cycling opportunity then please get in touch today!
Email: helen@margaretcareyfoundation.org.uk
BIKE TO THE FUTURE! YOUTH MECHANICS PROGRAMME
NOVEMBER 2016
We’re excited to be working with our partners to provide learning opportunities for young people in two locations across Bradford. We’ve filled the first of these, which is a 4-week course based at Bradford Bikery in partnership with Incommunities and Bradford City Council giving young people the chance to earn a bicycle maintenance qualification, plan a bike ride and keep the bike they have fixed plus free light helmet and lock!
The Bike to the Future programme has been developed with one of our volunteers and we’ll be delivering a second later in the year on the Scholemoor estate in partnerhip with Scholemoor Community Centre and Fresh Start 4U funded by the Big Lottery.
Based within social housing in Little Horton, near Bradford city centre, Bradford Bikery are also working with the Brathay Trust and Princes Trust to provide work placements for young mechanics who will be recycling bikes this autumn at the Bikery. In partnership with Fresh Start 4U, Bradford Bikery are very pleased to have supported one of our core volunteers in finding full time work.
Training courses and cycling opportunities are being announced all the time, so email anthony@margaretcareyfoundation.org.uk for details and to stay posted.
SHIPLEY BIKERY OFFICIAL OPENING
OCTOBER 2016
Honorary Recorder of Bradford, Judge Roger Thomas QC officially opened the new Shipley Bikery at 4 Thomas Duggan House, Manor Lane, Shipley on Thursday 26 October. We were also delighted to be joined by Chief Superintendent Scott Bisset, Bradford District Commander of West Yorkshire Police and other interested parties from Bradford based cycling organisations.
The Shipley Bikery is open on Wednesdays (11-7) and Thursdays (10-6) selling quality refurbished bikes. We also offer affordable servicing and repairs and free bike maintenance advice and training. Starting in December we will be opening 5 days a week and need more volunteers to support our longer opening hours. If you love bikes and would like to find out more about volunteering the please get in touch email: helen@margaretcareyfoundation.org.uk or call 07874 627801. No bike maintenance qualifications are necessary as training will be given, you just need to be enthusiastic about bikes and cycling.
Many thanks to Stephen Simper for taking the fabulous pictures of the opening for us.
MCF BIKES REACH CHILDREN IN KENYA AND THE GAMBIA
SEPTEMBER 2016
MCF don’t just offer training to people in prison, and affordable cycling to disadvantaged communities. We also partner with organisations across the world, who identify a need for the people they help to have good, refurbished bikes donated. Take for example Wirral-based Pioneer People, who have been taking bikes expertly refurbished by our prison trainees and delivering them to partners in Africa for over five years. This summer, that meant orphaned kids in children’s homes in Kenya and The Gambia could get their very own bike, for cycling fun and to get to school. Here’s what Mark from Pioneer People says about their partnership with MCF.
“We have recently imported a truck and 120 bikes into Kenya and to our partner Sure 24 Children’s Home. Before the end of the year we plan to send 300 bikes to The Gambia and a further 120 bikes to Kenya. Many thanks for your continued support, we simply couldn’t do this without you and the links you have given us.”
Every bike you donate really does count, so please contact us if you and your neighbours have some bikes we could come and collect, or if your community group or school would like to organise a bike drive. Thanks for your support!
MARGARET CAREY VISITS HMP KIRKHAM WORKSHOP
JULY 2016
We were delighted to take our patron, Margaret Carey, on a tour of the excellent MCF bike workshop at HMP Kirkham. Here’s what Margaret said about her visit:
“Thank you very much indeed for a thoroughly enjoyable visit to the Margaret Carey Foundation. It is clearly going from strength to strength both in terms of your ability to raise funds and to increase the number of prison and community projects.
I was amazed at the visit to the mill to see all the donated stocks of bikes and other equipment, and agree with you that the building has great potential for other activities. The bike workshop in Shipley is clearly also going very well and literally provides a ‘shop window’ for the work of MCF and training opportunities for people in the community.
And our visit to HMP Kirkham yesterday was very enjoyable indeed. I must say I was pretty impressed that the No. 1 Governor was actually waiting in the workshop to meet us and spent a considerable amount of time talking about the work and what it means to him and to the prison. The men working with Ray Stewart and his staff are clearly very well motivated and getting a great deal from being involved. The prison itself and its range of work and activities is very impressive. Please pass on my thanks to everyone we met.”
And here’s what Governor Graham Beck said about MCF:
‘The MCF bicycle repair workshop offers a unique element of our establishment regime. Whilst other activities enable our men to learn new technical skills, and to improve employment prospects whilst serving their sentences, this workshop brings the added feature of teaching the men about outcomes for some of the most disadvantaged people in the world. By subtly teaching the men the value of recycling old and unwanted goods, through honest work; and then offering them to people who genuinely need the machines to enable them to go about their daily lives, they gain a real understanding about the values of a compassionate society, and of course, the motivational boost that comes with helping others. I am hopeful that the combination of technical skill and knowledge, thinking skills associated with adapting knowledge and skills, along with the learning about community, society and lives of others, will bring real benefits to the lives and prospects of our men.
The workshop is a thriving environment with a sense of purpose and values. Our instructor is a dedicated and passionate teacher who communicates the mission of the Margaret Carey Foundation whilst delivering a key part of the establishment regime. I am grateful for the support of the MC Foundation for the work that went into the setting up of the workshop and the ongoing provision of stock, and assistance developing the programme.’
TEACHING SCHOOL CHILDREN BIKE MAINTENANCE
MAY 2016
MCF Shipley Bikery staff and volunteers organised a lesson with a difference after Easter, when we went along to a Year 5 class at Fieldhead Carr Primary School to help pupils learn about bike maintenance. Both MCF and the school kids had a fantastic day, learning about safe cycling and good bike maintenance.
Children were asked to bring in their bikes and were given advice on:
what to regularly check/maintain on their bikes,
how to adjust their seats to the correct height and
how to make any basic repairs.
The teacher invited us along to enthuse the class about bike maintenance as an introduction to the new book they were going to be studying. The class had such a great morning they are going to organise a bike collection for us. Thanks for having us, Fieldhead Carr!
Want to do the same? If your school or community group would like MCF to come along, email us to find out more about a group bike maintenance session. Contact helen@margaretcareyfoundation.org.uk
NEW TRAINING WORKSHOP AT HMP HATFIELD
MAY 2016
May 2016: MCF are delighted to be working in a new partnership with HMP/YOI Hatfield, with our new bike maintenance training workshop bringing our total number of prison projects to 14 workshops in 13 prisons. Here’s an update on progress so far from HMP/YOI Hatfield Communities Engagement Manager, Chris George.
“After your kind donation of tools and equipment, we were able to design and lay out a modest sized workshop at our Hatfield Lakes site, large enough to employ 5 men full time. The project has been a great experience so far for both myself and my Instructor, Bryan Rickatsen. From having no workshop space to operate a shop in or any tools or trained Instructor, thanks to the help and support of The Margaret Carey Foundation, we were able to open a workshop which in turn, is now providing an opportunity for the prisoners at Hatfield to gain new skills and perhaps thoughts of a potential career opportunity.
“Having spoken with you on several occasions and colleagues within the prison estate, most notably during visits to HMP Nottingham and HMP Lindholme’s workshops, I could see that a regular supply of bikes would be one of our biggest challenges. Fortunately, we have managed to secure a regular ‘flow’ from North Lincolnshire Council (NLC) in Scunthorpe. We have had pledges of bikes from the Police in South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire as well as the promise of bikes from councils in South and West Yorkshire but as yet due to the decent supply from NLC, I haven’t had to pursue these as yet.
“It is early days for the project having only opened 2 weeks ago but thus far, the prisoners are enjoying the work and getting great satisfaction from carrying out such valuable work for a worthwhile cause such as The Margaret Carey Foundation. It is hoped that as we progress and develop the shop further, we will be able to offer a qualification to the prisoners.”
MCF prison workshops: where we are
MCF is currently running projects in 10 prisons: Liverpool, Haverigg (Cumbria) Garth (Lancashire), Kirkham (Lancashire), Humberside, Kirklevington Grange (N Yorkshire), Northumberland, Lindholme (S Yorkshire), Buckley Hall and Nottingham.
In 2015, we launched two new community bike projects, MCF Shipley Community Bike Hub in Shipley BD18 and MCF Bradford Bikery (in partnership with InCommmunities Group Ltd) in central Bradford. These two projects have become thriving community assets in a short space of time, and we are currently developing our training schedule. If you would like to get involved as a volunteer or would like bike maintenance training at your school or community group, we’d be pleased to hear from you so get in touch!
In the last year we have sent refurbished wheelchairs and bikes to overseas aid projects in South Africa, Fiji, Sri Lanka, the Ukraine and Belarus; and in England to families and individuals in Bradford and Bolton.
E- CARDS & SOCIAL MEDIA
APRIL 2016
Send e-cards to Support MCF on Special Occasions
Whatever the occasion you want to acknowledge and celebrate , whether it’s a birthday , Christmas, Engagement, New Home or New baby you can support MCF by sending e-cards.
This is how it works
1. Select your cause: Select Margaret Carey Foundation from the DontSendMeACard.com website here to support us with the cost of buying and sending greeting cards.
2. Compose an e-card: Choose an e-card image, write a personal message, and choose how much you would have spent on cards.
3. Donate: You can then make your donation via PayPal or credit card. Donations are sent instantly to MCF.
4. Send your e-cards: You can then send up 100 e-cards to friends and family. You can send these all in one-hit, or one at a time. You can also edit the personal message by clicking on it below the e-card preview in the left sidebar.
CHALLENGES & SPONSORSHIP
If you have a place in an event like the Great North Run, the London Marathon or any sporting event then why not raise sponsorship for Margaret Carey Foundation? You may be organising your own event and want to raise sponsorship to support Margaret Carey Foundation.
You can easily set up an online sponsorship page at
Once you have set up your page, maximise your sponsorship by emailing the link to all your friends and family and remember to share your page on social media.
Alternatively, email: helen@margaretcareyfoundation.org.uk to request a paper sponsor form.
If we can support your fundraising in any way then please get in touch!
ORGANISE A BIKE COLLECTION DAY
We’re in urgent need of old bikes!
A constant supply of used bikes is essential for our trainees to learn how to fix a variety of problems on a variety of bikes. Recycling bikes also helps the environment: in our first 5 years, MCF saved 7,112 bikes and 711 wheelchairs from landfill, putting them back into service where they were most needed. That’s about 6000 tonnes of waste diverted. And we plan to recycle even more.
Since we are often not allowed to collect old bikes from amenity tips, we rely on community groups and companies to organise bike collection days for us. Any condition of bike is gratefully received and this way, everyone who donates a bike knows it’s going straight to a good cause.
Could your school, company, community group or rotary club organise a bike collection day for MCF?
Here’s how:
Step 1: Get it touch with us to tell us your plans and let us know if you have a date set for your bike collection, so that we can book our van driver to come and collect the bikes. If you’re holding your bike collection day in a public place (like a car park), you’ll have to get permission from the council (we can help you contact the right people).
Step 2: We will send you a PDF flyer for your bike collection day, which groups normally print and circulate through letterboxes and on noticeboards a couple of weeks beforehand. We will also send you JPGs of the same notice for your Facebook and Twitter feeds.
Step 3: Make a day of it, and make it fun! Some groups give everyone who donates a sticker, some a pint of beer! Have lots of volunteers on hand to help people unload from their cars, and sort the bikes into sizes.
Step 4: Our van driver can take up to 40 bikes at a time, so depending on how many bikes you get donated, we might need your help to organise additional transport or temporary storage.
Step 5: You did it! MCF will send your group an official certificate thanking your for your help, stating how many bikes were donated and where theses will go to. Time to start planning next year’s collection…
Bike and Wheelchair Collections 2015: where did the bikes go?
Many thanks to everyone involved in collecting bikes for MCF in 2015. The Rotary Clubs of Ilkley Wharfedale and Keighley both held collection days for Margaret Carey Foundation in 2015 collecting over 100 bikes to be refurbished in Margaret Carey Foundation workshops.
The Rotary Club of Ilkley Wharfedale also collected spectacles, which were refurbished and sent to West Africa by the Specsort Rotary Charity.
If you belong to a group that might consider organising a bike collection day in your area then we would love to hear from you. We need a regular supply of bikes to keep our workshops running and any donations of bikes, bike parts and wheelchairs, whatever the condition, will be gratefully accepted.
THANKS FOR COMING ALONG
FEBRUARY 2016
Friday 26 February 2016, The Octagon in Keighley hosted a fundraising concert for MCF. It was a great night, and a big thank you to Heather, Roger and the Wild Geese for making it so memorable!
Heather Peace
An actress for 20 years, starring in TV shows like London’s Burning, Ultimate Force, Lip Service and Prey, Heather left her leading role in BBC One drama Waterloo Road in 2014, to fully commit to her flourishing music career.
Over the last three years, Heather has performed four sell out UK tours with her full band as well as four sell-out solo acoustic tours.
Heather will be back on the road later this year with a UK and European Tour performing tracks from her forthcoming EP, ‘Come Home’ which is due for release in the Spring of 2016.
Roger Sutcliffe
Originally from Bradford, Roger is a blues, jazz and folk musician who has been playing and performing music since he was 17. Roger is best known as a slide guitarist and will be performing a mixture of traditional and original songs.
The Wild Geese
This Bradford band who started performing 25 years ago completed the line-up of this fundraising concert.
Published: 24th April, 2019