R.A.D Newsletter - Summer/Matiti 2022/3

RAD (Recycle a Dunger) Newsletter

Summer/Matiti 2022/3

Kia ora RAD whānau!

Welcome to our overview of RAD’s universe.

As the year draws to a close it's a great time to look back on all the positive vibes RAD has achieved. One of our BIG successes has been the expansion of our services. This growth has seen our two sites at The Commons and Space Academy absolutely humming with heaps of learning, repairing, recycling, fixing and general good times.

All these developments are key stepping stones as we pedal towards our vision to establish and sustain a real home. This year we’ve seen lots more people gain access to affordable bikes, while we’ve minimised waste and helped grow the Ōtautahi cycle community. Read on…and thanks for joining us on this RAD journey…together we achieve RAD awesomeness.

RAD NEWS

RAD Peeps!

A big welcome to many new people within our RAD whānau (click to meet our new staff!) We’d also love to acknowledge our previous workshop manager Simon Kong. His infectious enthusiasm for all things ‘bike’ helped RAD’s expansion thrive. We miss ya!

Salvage Squad Kicks Off

Our latest project, Salvage Squad is busting into action. This is our specialist bike recovery and reclamation unit, focusing energies on bike stripping and parts sorting, helping to streamline bike repairs. Salvage Squad is an excellent place to start your volunteering journey as it gives you the time and space to get greasy, while familiarising yourself with the RAD’s mahi and people. Huge thanks to Te Whanau Trust and the Canterbury Joint Waste Committee for funding support.

Supporting Bike Bridge

Bike Bridge (BB) provides bike riding lessons for former refugee and migrant women, run by women for women.

RAD is super proud to support this empowering initiative with governance advice and repaired secondhand bikes. Recently BB relocated to Addington Te Kura Taumatua resulting in a huge upswing in demand for bikes and lessons. Therefore, RAD’s focus this Summer/Matiti is getting BB bikes rolling. Join our regular Charity Fix-Ups, helping us help others; click the link for upcoming opportunities.

Massive thanks to Cashmere Rotary, Dr Malcolm McKellar and Beca for your help setting up BB’s new home. Kia ora!

RAD EVENTS

RAD Calendar is LIVE

As always there’s heaps going on in the RAD universe. The best place to check out what is coming up and where, is to check out the RAD Calendar. This is live on our website and regularly updated. It highlights all things RAD including charity fix ups, drop-sessions, courses and workshops - super handy!

Rolling with Biketober

Every October Ōtautahi hosts the Festival of Cycling; Biketober. This year saw another super successful month of bike related workshops, rides, give-it-a-goes, talks, movies, seminars, cycle challenges, raves and general bike related goodness. RAD was pleased to host a number of events including the Motherload Movie, a couple of charity fix-ups and present at the Spokes transport seminar (thanks Spokes for our events support!). We’re already looking forward to Biketober next year!

Christmas Special

RAD is hosting a special ‘Kids Bikes for Xmas’ fix-up event and celebration on Sunday 11 Dec. Come join us, get some kids bikes fixed up and shiny, ready for new homes. Find a bike to fix for your own whānau or to giveaway to other deserving little people. All bikes ready-to-go and unclaimed at the end of the will go to kids at Te Kōmanawa Rowley School to ride their new bike track.

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!

Behind the scenes we’ve been making improvements to our donations platforms. We’ll be moving away from Patreon in the new year, so if you are a regular giver you’ll hear from us soon.

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!

Enjoy Summer!

Finally, even RAD people need to put their feet up sometimes. RAD is closed for our Summer/Matiti break from Monday 19th December until Sunday 22 January. For full details please see our RAD Calendar.

Thanks to all who make our community so RAD. We look forward to seeing you for more RAD times in 2023!