As we embark on a new chapter in our journey, we want to express our deepest gratitude for the incredible support you've shown us throughout the years. We're not saying goodbye; instead, it's more of a "till we meet again." With some exciting news to share for sure!In the spirit of change and growth, we've made the decision to shift gears and adapt to the evolving business landscape. We're not just any business – we are, first and foremost, a Charity (Charity No: 1115608). Our mission has always been to create employment, build schools, and transform communities in the heart of Chilomoni,

Another year around the sun and another year of YOU helping to support the most vulnerable children in Malawi. 2023 saw 8 x 40ft containers filled with donations for our schools, that's 143 containers that we've sent since 2007! Over 30,000 bikes & 8000 sewing machines have landed in Malawi over the past 16 years, along with all the school donations and construction materials. It's all down to YOU, without the sales and support from YOU this just wouldn't be possible. We're now a full year into our new primary and secondary school opening, with the Mary

A journey that started with 20,000 Post office bikes, that took us just over 5 years to collect from every Royal Mail depot up and down the United Kingdom, has finally come to an end. The very last of the Postie bikes are on their way to Malawi Africa, where they will be lovingly restored by our Malawian friends. Back in 2015 we made the decision to renovate 5,000 of these bikes and re brand them as the Elephant bike to sell them in the UK. Fast forward to March 2023 and

It's been a whole year since the Primary and Secondary School opened, and we couldn't be prouder of our superstar students. Such a lot has happened in the past 12 month, we opened St Kizito with classes for standard 1, 2, 3 & 4 with standard 5 opening at the end of December 2022. Our focus for this year is to open standard 6, in 2024 we'll see standard 7 and in 2025 we'll open the last year of primary, standard 8. As for our Secondary School Carlos Acutis, 2022 saw the start

Since 2007 we've been collecting your old and unwanted bikes and sending them to our charity partners in Malawi, Africa. So proud to say that we've reached over 100,000 bikes donated! Whoop Whoop! 🙌 7,780 sewing machines and many tons of books have been sent in 135 40ft containers. Thanks also this year for all the school equipment, work boots and construction materials too. Help Support Our Projects in Chilomoni, Malawi By purchasing our Eco Friendly products on our website, you will be supporting our projects in Chilomoni, Malawi. We have some great

Our superb gift collection for showing you care about the planet! 1. Recycled Coffee Sack Christmas Stocking 2. Organic Canvas Bags 3. Recycled Inner Tube Wallet with Coin Pocket 4. Recycled Inner Tube Key Ring 5. Lunch Bag

Our superb gift collection for showing you care about the planet! 1. Recycled Coffee Sack Christmas Stocking 2. Organic Canvas Bags 3. Recycled Inner Tube Wallet with Coin Pocket 4. Recycled Inner Tube Key Ring 5. Lunch Bag

Our superb gift collection for showing you care about the planet! 1. Recycled Coffee Sack Christmas Stocking 2. Organic Canvas Bags 3. Recycled Inner Tube Wallet with Coin Pocket 4. Recycled Inner Tube Key Ring 5. Lunch Bag

Our superb gift collection for showing you care about the planet! 1. Recycled Coffee Sack Christmas Stocking 2. Organic Canvas Bags 3. Recycled Inner Tube Wallet with Coin Pocket 4. Recycled Inner Tube Key Ring 5. Lunch Bag

Our superb gift collection for showing you care about the planet! 1. Recycled Coffee Sack Christmas Stocking 2. Organic Canvas Bags 3. Recycled Inner Tube Wallet with Coin Pocket 4. Recycled Inner Tube Key Ring 5. Lunch Bag

Most of us are thinking differently about sustainably sourcing everyday items, climate change is a huge issue for us all, the amount of waste ending up in landfill is at breaking point. If we all made small changes to the way we live and shop, we would all be doing our bit, little steps together can make a HUGE difference! As Christmas fast approaches, are you thinking of giving out vegan Christmas gifts to your family and friends this year? If so, you're in luck because here at Cycle of Good

Our superb gift collection for showing you care about the planet! 1. Recycled Coffee Sack Christmas Stocking 2. Organic Canvas Bags 3. Recycled Inner Tube Wallet with Coin Pocket 4. Recycled Inner Tube Key Ring 5. Lunch Bag

Mitsidi Volunteer Village  When our Chairman, Tony Smith stumbled on the idyllic, scenic, colonial style house and gardens of Mitsidi back in 2008, he soon fell in love with the place and the area of Chilomoni Township, Blantyre Malawi. It was soon to become the base for all international volunteers who would travel over the coming years to Africa to help with the expansion of the not-for-profit Beehive Centre for Social Enterprise.   [caption id="attachment_85129" align="alignnone" width="633"] Mitsidi Volunteer Village[/caption] Mitsidi has seen 100’s of international volunteers come and go, mostly giving up their

Background: Government primary education is free in Malawi, but not compulsory. Many families cannot afford to pay for school uniform or need to have their children at home helping with farming, supporting extended family members and carrying out mundane household chores such as pounding maize and collecting water. Often it is the girls who miss out on their education in preference to boys. If a child is lucky enough to get a primary education, secondary education is far more limited. There are too few places for all the children to attend

Our superb gift collection for showing you care about the planet! 1. Recycled Coffee Sack Christmas Stocking 2. Organic Canvas Bags 3. Recycled Inner Tube Wallet with Coin Pocket 4. Recycled Inner Tube Key Ring 5. Lunch Bag

Hi Sarah here! In the past few years I've tried to shop ethically for Christmas presents, I've had some great charity shop and car boot finds, sewn and knitted gifts (to varying degrees of success!) and a couple of years ago gave gifts I had designed for Cycle of Good. When it comes to wrapping gifts I always leave that till Christmas eve afternoon, for some people that's a bit late but I put on a Christmas film or two, get all the gifts and wrapping together and ensure that I have tea on tap. I feel like a real Christmas elf!         I've

Confessions ……. Valuing waste is my priceless inheritance. My parents are rooted in a generation and culture which knows no waste. They grew up at the mercy of the elements, in rural farming communities, nestled in the same Indian State where Mahatma Gandhi was born, and which Narendra Modi put on the global map. Their innovation is admirable, and imagination limitless when it comes to turning everyday waste into everyday necessities. As I write this, my cousins in India feed off an energy system fuelled by gases released from cow dung, and I

  BAFTS 'Proud to be' series for Black History Month Meet Rukhsana Iqbal (aka Roxy) She's Cycle of Good's superstar seamstress/designer, making and testing all of our fabulous inner tube products here in the UK before we send instructions and the bulk of the material over to our partners at CoG Malawi. “Roxy has been with us for over 3 years, it almost feels like she's been here with us since the beginning, with her chatty and vivacious personality, it's never a dull moment when she's around, and not to mention the amazing

We’re over the moon that on the 13th June, the Belles of Belvoir female only cycle sportive will be striking out resplendent with Cycle of Good African wax-print bags. Cycle of Good make bags and accessories from recycled materials such as old bicyle inner tubes. They’re all sewn by fairly paid Malawian tailors in a beautiful workshop that’s powered by the sun. The workshop is an intrinsic part of Beehive Centre for Social Enterprise, a collection of non-profit enterprises, all housed in eco-block buildings; every bit of income generated is used

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]When a Cycle of Good order drops through your door, you might have noticed that accompanying a few of our items, there's a little card telling you who made it. Behind every name, there's a story, a family, and a woman carving out a better life for herself. To mark International Women's Day on 8th March, we're privileged to discover more about the lives of the team in Malawi. We'd like to introduce you to Violet Taulo who is one of our tailors at Cycle of Good and you may have spotted

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]It's day 10 of Fair Trade Fortnight and we have some good news to share! A brand new school is under construction using funds generated from our parent charity, Krizevac Project. The St. Kizito Primary School is located at the Main Beehive Campus, in Chilomoni, Blantyre, home to Cycle of Good. This primary School aims to offer quality, international-standard educational facilities to severely impoverished children in the local area, and to provide continuity of education to the students at Beehive’s Mother Teresa Children’s Centre (MTCC). The project employs local workers, providing employment

It's day 4 of fairtrade fortnight and we're going behind the scenes. There is so much we could tell you about the activities at Cycle of Good, but we think this short video sums up the operation perfectly! What started with a pile of tubes destined for landfill, has developed into something much greater! The creation of sustainable employment to lift those in need out of poverty and playing our part in cleaning up our planet is something we remain strongly committed to. Be part of the journey

Fairtrade Fortnight, day 3: Where are we? You may know that our team of tailors, our our social enterprise activities and educational facilities are situated in Malawi, Africa but we'd like to give you a little more insight about the areas where we operate. We're located in a township called Chilomoni in the south east of Africa. It has a beautiful lush landscape surrounded by mountains and is around 200KM from the southern tip of Lake Malawi. It has a sub-tropical climate, which is relatively dry and strongly seasonal. The warm-wet season

It's day 2 of Fairtrade Fortnight and we'd like to tell you a little bit more about Cycle of Good and how we came to be. It started with bikes, lots of them. Tens of thousands of them! Containers full of second hand donated bicycles, sent from the UK to Chilomoni, Malawi over the last 10 years. Something as basic as owning a bike provides access employment, starting up business or to reach education or healthcare. Public transport can cost a whole months wage so getting bikes on the ground in

Day 1, off we go! To support this annual campaign, we'd thought we'd take up the challenge set by BAFTS (Fair Trade Network UK), of which we are members, to share our passion for fair trade, recycling and stories from Malawi over the next 14 days. Don't worry! We won't bombard your inbox everyday but we will be sharing daily insights on all things Cycle of Good via social media. We'd love you to help us share our story and the importance of creating a fairer trading platform for all. You might think

Want to celebrate Christmas the eco-friendly way? Treat your family and friends to ethical gifts this Christmas, lovingly made by our talented team in Malawi! Our Christmas gift ideas are hand-picked from our Eco-Friendly & Ethical Christmas Gift Collection and made using recycled materials saved from landfill and oceans! Discover eco-friendly and ethical Christmas gift ideas all uniquely and carefully crafted into useful and beautiful items! Here's our list of eco-friendly and ethical Christmas gift ideas to help you celebrate Christmas the greener way and become part of the Cycle of Good! Adult Facemask Featuring

PREPARING FOR THE CHRISTMAS RUSH? 2020 will mark the end of a very difficult year for most and Christmas perhaps provides the opportunity to go 'all-out' on lavish celebrations and a mountain of present buying. Well, that's what you may think if you're glancing at the many glossy TV, online and magazine advertisements which are infiltrating your lives on an almost daily basis! We at Cycle of Good, like a growing number of movements, think that we deserve to be a little kinder to ourselves if we took the pressure off, stepped

We're pleased to bring you this minute long video from a budding Malawian film maker who works with our Cycle of Good team in Malawi. Since 2007 over 1500 (mainly) women completed diplomas in tailoring and design in Chilomoni. The existence of Cycle of Good means there are employment opportunities for the tailors on successful completion of their 2 year training scheme. Opportunities for them to earn a fair wage which includes a pension, paid holiday, sick leave and maternity leave. Crucially, they have the opportunity to provide for their families.

Are you thinking of giving out vegan Christmas gifts to your family and friends this year? If so, you're in luck because here at Cycle of Good we have a wide range of Vegan Christmas gifts all made from recycled materials by fairly paid tailors in Malawi. The unique gift ideas listed below are our top-selling items from our Vegan Christmas Gift Collection - you can view the full range of gift ideas for vegans here. By purchasing any of the products in this collection, you are helping to support our

Who would ever have thought that 2020 would have seen such monumental and overwhelming change? It has been the toughest ever year for so many people here in the UK and around the world. It goes without saying that our hearts go out to everyone who’s lives have been touched by the global pandemic. For Cycle of Good, it’s meant that we’ve worked harder than ever to make sure our charitable trading of recycled products is effective. Our aim is to create sustainable, dignifying employment in Malawi and to help our

  Oppression, inequality, racism, abduction, death row - Vera Chirwa has experienced it all and more. How could we, at Cycle of Good, not mark her incredible journey and highlight her achievements during black history month?   Vera was born in Nyasaland in 1932, the former British Colony that is now Malawi. Her forward-thinking parents saw the value of education for girls and unlike many girls in Africa, even today, Vera was sent to school. Firstly, in Livingstonia in the north of the country (where she was one girl amongst 70 boys) and

Surprisingly, a humble, well-thumbed old book from the UK can,  but not before a whole lot of effort has been made by the small but wonderful team at PAMET Malawi.   PAMET (paper making education trust) is a women's cooperative in Chilomoni, a township in Malawi. Cycle of Good has been aware of their amazing recycling work for a number of years as they are just across the road from 'Bee Books' one of many Beehive social enterprises in the area set up by our charity Krizevac.   Back in the UK, an army of volunteers

Keen eyed Cycle of Good supporters, will have spotted that on all our product labels it says “all the money we make pays for childcare and non-profit social enterprise in Malawi”, we thought we would tell you a little more about what that means and what we’re up to in Malawi right now.

If you’re a follower of Cycle of Good and Elephant Bike, you’ll know all about our passion for both recycling and all things cycling!  During the Corona crisis, we like everyone else in the UK have had to adapt and seek new possibilities as we adjust to the economic impact of the pandemic. But as a wise man once said, “out of adversity comes opportunity”; and throughout lock down, we’ve been working on something special to sustain our trading income, whilst also continuing to promote fair and dignifying employment in Malawi. Trading

When life gives you elderflower…. make champagne! The sun is shining again and what better way to test our your new Elephant Bike than by taking a gentle saunter down a country lane to collect some of the elderflowers that are out right now? We’ve just arrived home with our bikes, from a quick 2 miles along a disused Staffordshire railway track that runs from Leek to Rudyard Lake, it’s perfect as it’s flat, well gravelled and away from main roads. It’s fairly empty at the moment although all the dog walkers

The man behind the Comb On our recent trip to Malawi, we happily bumped into Ephraim Mataka. The Chair of our Trustees first met Ephraim in 2010, they met at Church in Chilomoni Township; Tony Smith was delighted to meet someone as small as he is and he happily shared his clothes with Ephraim who had very little of his own. Ephraim began to make Rosary Beads for the Church as a way of earning a little income. He lives on his own in Chilomoni and never seems to need much, but earning

Here are  Selina, Maria and Rachel– since 2007, these 3 incredible women with very few resources other than sewing machines donated from the UK, they have trained over 1600 women in Chilomoni Township, Malawi. These dedicated women lead classes in Informal Tailoring. The three-month course is taught in Chichewa so that it’s accessible to women who have not been able to attend school. They also teach a one-year diploma course which not only passes on sewing skills but helps to build literacy and prepares women for the world of work. To educate

Here at CoG we’re determined to minimize our carbon footprint and that includes reducing our flights, but every so often it’s essential to travel to Malawi in order to develop our range of products and to make sure that we’re on track with our fair trade intentions. This February, George Furnival, our UK Manager made the 5500 mile trip to the Warm Heart of Africa; she took some time out from working on new products to interview the Malawi Manager of Cog, to find out what difference the project makes

The team at Cycle of Good are committed to spreading the word about the importance of trading fairly so we are delighted to become members of the BAFTS Fair Trade Network UK! BAFTS Fair Trade Network UK is a network of independent shops and suppliers dedicated to promoting Fair Trade retail in the UK. BAFTS provides a structure of accountability to its members who adhere to the 10 Principles of Fair Trade as set out by the World Fair Trade Organisation (WFTO). Our membership to BAFTS marks an important milestone in our

As well as creating jobs within its own social enterprise, Cycle of Good helps numerous local artisan craft businesses around the local town of Chilomoni, Blantyre. One such business is Emmanuel and his team of craft recyclers from Chirimba. Emmanuel is an integral part of the Cycle of Good, supplying us with small, handmade eco-friendly recycled gifts. Local craftsman Emmanuel and his team of 5 create our popular recycled bicycle copper keyring. The eco-friendly recycled keyring is made using soft wires from often abandoned fridges. The bicycle keyring is extra special for

In July 2019 we boldly made the pledge that Cycle of Good would be 100% single use plastic free by December the 31st. It is the New Year, but don’t worry, we haven’t forgotten our promise and we’re delighted to update you with our progress so far. During our October team meeting, we engaged the whole team in identifying what single use plastic we use, the list was surprisingly short considering the amount of shipping, packing, making and mending we do. We identified, bubble wrap, plastic envelopes, shrink wrap, sello-tape etc.

Thank you to all of our coffee sack suppliers, tube collection points and everyone that has posted, dropped off and shown up with tubes. Without your support we wouldn’t be able to do what we do every day. Have a great Christmas and we look forward to working with you all in 2020.   [

Our wash bag is completely plastic free but what about what we put in them. Making a couple of simple changes such as changing from a plastic toothbrush to a wooden, dropping the plastic disposable razor for an eco-friendly reusable one and switching from a bottle of shampoo to a shampoo bar. By making a changes to what we use every day really can make a massive difference to our planet.    

Cycle of Good products are designed for the long road ahead, especially our luggage tag! Did you know that this year we have sent 17 shipping containers full of donated bikes, books, coffee sacks, inner tubes, sewing machines and many other items to Malawi? It’s over 5,100 miles to Malawi meaning we have travelled 86,700 miles this year by sea.   Cycle Of Good gifts and Presents are made 100% from Recycled Materials All surpluses directly fund the work of the children’s centre in Malawi . It’s why we call it the Cycle of

We’re proud to pay above minimum wage to our tailors in Malawi! Our tailors are paid 3 x higher than the minimum wage in Malawi for their work on CoG.  In addition to their living wage they also access a pension scheme, paid annual leave, subsidised childcare and excellent working condition. We have adopted the Ethical Trading Initiative Base Code to make sure that everyone in our supply chain is treated fairly.   Cycle Of Good gifts and Presents are made 100% from Recycled MaterialsAll surpluses directly fund the work of the children’s centre

Did you know that this year we have received over 20,000 tubes, and each of our small Laptop cases is made up of 3 tubes? So if we made nothing else we could have made 6,500 small laptop cases!!   Cycle Of Good gifts and Presents are made 100% from Recycled MaterialsAll surpluses directly fund the work of the children’s centre in Malawi . It’s why we call it the Cycle of Good!Shop Now

Every Cycle of Good product has been made with love by trained artisans in Malawi. Your support has created 20 tailoring and 5 support roles. The salaries mean that the team can support their own families, afford a decent diet, pay school fees and face a secure future. This is vital in Malawi which is one of the poorest countries in the world with fragile harvests, no welfare state and very little access to international markets.  By buying fairly traded Christmas gifts, you make this all possible.   Thank You  

Here at Cycle of Good we’ve debated long and hard about the merits and flaws of Black Friday, which on the face of it, is not hard to do. Merits - customers get some savings, the economy is stimulated at a crucial selling time… um, that’s it!  Flaws - the wealthier nations of this world already consume far too much and our fragile planet cannot sustain current levels of growth, resource depletion and waste, so how can anyone in good conscious promote more mindless consumption? Black Friday deals are typically pushing consumers

Every year BBC Radio Stoke honours those that go above and beyond to make a difference to life in Staffordshire and Cheshire. Meet Joe ! "The Most Gentle man I have Ever Met " A Former School Deputy Head, Community Activist who loves Cricket,  supports Crewe Alexander and wants to make the world a more equal place.   Did I mention he has volunteered for multiple charities every week for over 10 years? We are so happy that Joe has been nominated for BBC Radio Stoke ‘Make A Difference’ Awards.   He continues to put back into

Come and Join Cycle Of Good at the Cycle Show 2019. The Cycle Show is an for everyone who loves cycling, you can get advice from your favourite brands, try out the latest products, meet your cycling heroes and indulge in all things cycling. If you have always wanted to try an Elephant Bike or wanted a closer look then we are at the Cycle Show 2019. We will have different sizes and colours of Elephant Bikes on show alongside our upcycled range of gift wear made from recycled innertube. Try Before

Acquiring an Ex Royal Mail Bike was a game changer for  Timothy Pondani, or Mr Woza Woza as he is now known. Timothy lives in a fairly typical Malawian village called Sigrege. If you are ever in the vicinity, you’ll notice Tim because of his beaming smile and warm friendly nature. And you can’t fail to miss his Royal Mail bike, painted in his own bespoke colours and generally with a small happy child sitting in the front carrier.   Tim once worked at a popular Italian restaurant in Namiwawa (a wealthy

We've been working in Malawi to help establish non-profit enterprises and educational settings in Malawi for the past ten years, it's been exciting and incredibly humbling work. None of it would have been possible without the support we have from some talented international volunteers. Throughout the ten years, over a hundred highly skilled professional people,  ranging from architects to teachers have offered their skills and given up six months of their lives to live and work for our projects in Chilomoni, just outside of Blantyre in Malawi. We are now seeking

Why on earth would any charity on a mission to provide sustainable transport solutions for one of the poorest countries in the world, send a load of bikes to Malawi and then bring them back to the UK?! It's a good question and one that has quite a long answer. Here's the story

       Having been lucky enough to have visited Malawi on a regular basis over the past ten years, it was a huge shock to the system to land at Chileka Airport in Blantyre to find myself shivering with cold! Then I realised I’ve always managed to avoid visit Malawi in the depths of winter and it was especially apparent this year, having left the UK basking in glorious sunshine. But needs must, and the need for my trip this time was especially exciting! The reason for this trip stemmed from a

***PRESS RELEASE*** May 15th 2018 A Right Royal Wedding Gift As Harry’s Elephants Help Charity! You’ve heard about the difficulty postmen can have being chased by dogs, well when elephants began chasing the red Royal Mail bikes of game wardens in Malawi, they were lucky to escape with their lives! Luckily, UK Charity, “Cycle of Good” re-sprayed the British-made bikes green which seemed to calm the elephants, not long before Prince Harry helped rescue the over-crowded animals to move them to a less populated game reserve where they are now much happier.

We’ve always got at least half an eye on the future here at Cycle of Good, and recently we’ve been busily developing ideas by working alongside the product designers of the future. Keen students from Huddersfield University, as well as Buxton and Leek College, have been grappling with The Great Inner Tube Design Challenge as part of their product design and art courses and have come up with some exciting prospects. Around 40 students from Huddersfield presented their ideas following an intensive week of workshops where they learned about inner tubes

By Caroline Denny,  Cycle of Good Volunteer, Blantyre, Malawi In rural Malawi job opportunities are rare but today I had the chance to see one success story that is transforming the life of many people in a village. I am volunteering for Cycle of Good (Cog) in Malawi and went with Mary Kamwendo the manager of Cog to see where the woven bicycle panniers and front baskets for the Elephant bikes are made.  We travelled 40km outside of Blantyre, turned off the main road at Lilangwe and drove on untarred tracks

Introducing Alfred Madzuma Cycle of Good is transforming the lives of not just its own tailors but others such as Alfred. This is Alfred working outside his house making baskets from used plastic wrapping tape. “The weaving is hard work but I love making them as I know selling them to Cycle of Good means I can support my family”. Alfred tells us, “I have a wife and 2 children, Julius is 12 and Mercy is 8. At the moment  I rent a very small house but my aim is to

10 years ago, we shipped our first 40 foot container from the UK to Malawi.

Click here to watch

Welcome to our brand new Cycle of Good website, we hope you enjoy having a good look around and getting to know us.