R.A.D Newsletter - Autumn/Ngahuru 2023

RAD (Recycle a Dunger) Newsletter

Autumn/Ngahuru 2023

Kia ora RAD whānau!

Welcome to our overview of RAD’s universe.

RAD’s year is off to a cranking start with Drop-In’s heaving, Salvage Squad humming and lots of people getting help to cycle, recycle and learn.

To keep us pumping, this year we’re focused on finding RAD’s real home! We’re doing this while continuing to grow our community connections, expanding our income streams and building on the positive vibes our work achieves. We’re stoked to be growing a dynamic, energetic team. And behind all this mahi we’re developing robust systems to nurture our crew, create links across the developing array of RAD initiatives and support our Board who keep us on target.

This newsletter gives you a taste of some of our current RADness, enjoy…

RAD NEWS

New Board Member!

Welcome Meg Christie! Health Promoter, Community Hero and Environmental Queen. Meg’s been making cycling stuff happen since before RAD was born. A wise and well connected kuia, Meg lives and breathes our kaupapa. Her kind heart and experience makes her a strong advocate for RAD. Thanks Meg, we’re so stoked!

Supporting Buycycles

Buycycles is a fantastic initiative developed by the wonderful people at Community Focus Trust. It aims to get people in need on bikes through an affordable repayment scheme. RAD now regularly supplies bikes to get more people riding, while amping up RAD’s social impacts and income streams to achieve our grand vision. So RAD! Wanna help fix ‘BuyCycle’ bikes? Volunteer! Wanna bike through ‘BuyCycles’? Here’s their referral form.

Bike Bridge more RAD!

RAD’s been working hard behind the scenes to support and embed Bike Bridge within our RAD whānau. Check out our new Bike Bridge page on RAD’s website! We’re chuffed with this growing connection and love seeing lots of these women and their communities now using RAD’s services more and more! We’re also loving working alongside their amazing coordinators Lois & Mai. You can now find them @ bikebridge@radbikes.co.nz

RAD EVENTS

RAD Youth Workshops

Looking for RADness these school holidays? Sign up for our next Youth Workshop. RAD’s courses and workshops sell out, so get in quick to avoid disappointment! Follow us on Humantix to get updates, announcements and generally be in the know.

Fix Ups, Coming Up

RAD’s ‘fix ups’ get more bikes to people in need. Our two key ‘fix ups’ are the monthly Charity Fix Ups and our regular Kids Fix Ups. The kids’ bike events are held before each school holidays; perfect for riding and learning.

To help us deliver, we love extra helping hands, especially capable mechanics! If you’re interested, follow our Facebook Events or RAD Calendar for dates, or sign up to volunteer and stay in the loop.

Volunteer Upskilling

One of the best perks for RAD volunteers is free access to our Upskilling Sessions. Upskilling our crew supports RAD’s kaupapa, improves RAD’s bike fixing skills and the quality of bikes going out into our community. We’re all about learning, sharing and connecting. Sign up to volunteer and learn RADness with us!

RAD LOVE ❤

A snippet of the regular goodness happening at RAD…

Helping former Refugees

“I can't adequately express how grateful I am to have had such willing and cheerful support. The freedom and independence that comes from having transport is invaluable, especially for newcomers to New Zealand. I have seen their state of mind improve markedly since gaining freedom of movement. It's given them access to social and cultural stimulation that was very difficult before. The work that you and RAD do is extremely important and it means a great deal to people, so thank you very much.”

Nic Farra: Canterbury Refugee Centre

LOVE RAD? SUPPORT US

Donate

Donations keep our wheels spinning! Every bit helps and is greatly appreciated. So if you’re keen to support our kaupapa, click to check out how to donate. Thanks!

Volunteer

Volunteers are at the heart of RAD and we love them all! You don’t have to be a pro-mechanic to be RAD; there are heaps of ways to get involved. So click the link if you're curious about how to volunteer. So RAD!

Use RAD

Check out all RAD’s services via our website . Get the lowdown on upcoming events via our calendar (updated regularly). And follow us on Humanitix to get updates and tickets for our mechanic courses / workshops. See ya soon.

Huge mihi to our RAD supporters!

Together, we can achieve RAD things!

Thanks to all who make our community so RAD, without you we wouldn’t have achieved so much. As RAD grows and thrives, we’re increasingly confident in working towards achieving our grand vision of establishing and sustaining a real home. We want to be a full-time operation, under one roof so we can serve our city for years to come, helping everyone move towards a greener and more connected future.

We’d love help finding potential spaces for our real home. We’re developing our brief and funding strategy now and welcome all suggestions, support and connections. If you have any ideas, please get in touch! We’d love your help to achieve ultimate RADness :)