Volunteer Bike Mechanic

About the role

We’re looking for volunteer support to cover a variety of duties. You’ll be working with professional mechanics on a wide range of bikes. Depending on your skills, experience and interests you may feel you can cover one, or multiple areas.

Prison-based volunteers:

We need competent mechanics to support the men in our prison workshop as they gain the skills to refurbish bikes. You’ll be working alongside our friendly Prison Bike Mechanic Tutor. We work with people in HMP Bristol and HMP Fosse Way.

Community Hub volunteers:

We’re looking for people with proficient bike mechanic skills to help in our public-facing bike workshops.

Duties might include stripping bikes for spare parts and/or scrap, refurbishing bikes ready for sale, supporting staff to sell bikes to members of the public, helping us with our eBay account and generally mucking in to make the project work.

Supporting people after release:

We also have opportunities for volunteers to work alongside people who have been released from prison, supporting them to fix bikes and gain a qualification. This role would particularly suit someone who enjoys working with people.

About Bikes Beyond Bars

Life Cycle’s innovative bike recycling project is based at HMP Bristol and HMP Fosse Way. Unwanted bicycles are taken to the prisons, where the men learn how to strip down, clean and refit them, giving them a new lease of life.   

The bikes are taken to our community Hubs in Bristol or Derby where they are made ready for sale by Life Cycle’s mechanics and our team of volunteers. Anyone can buy a bike: many go to local people on low incomes, enabling them to access the benefits of cycling.  

How to apply

Please download our volunteer role description to find out more and apply.