About

upCYCLE is an organisation established by Philip Dobson in June 2020. Inspired by the global Black Lives Matter movement, he felt the need to help young ethnically diverse people in London.

As a person of colour, he was devastated to see the inordinate impact that Covid-19 was having on London’s ethnically diverse community, with young people forced to use public transport, which increases the risk of infection and passing it on to high risk or elderly family members.

He started off simply fixing bikes that were destined for landfill and donating them to charities in London, but after discussions with charities and community leaders he realised that much more was needed to get young people involved in cycling and, more importantly, actually keep them interested.

That’s why he started running Bike Maintenance and Cycle Skills courses at The Remakery in Brixton, where young people can get a refurbished bike for free and learn how to maintain it. Our mission is to address the lack of diversity in London’s cycling community by creating a fun and inclusive environment for young people from ethnic minority groups to share their passion for cycling.

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