Life Cycle partners with Cytech to deliver courses in prisons

Award-winning cycling charity, Life Cycle, announced a new partnership with Cytech.

This collaboration will bring Cytech’s bike maintenance courses to Bristol and Leicester while boosting Life Cycle’s social impact in prisons and local communities.

Building on 10 years’ experience delivering accredited cycle mechanics training, Life Cycle launched its new Cytech courses in HMP Bristol and HMP Fosse Way this October.

These courses foster skills development and rehabilitation through hands-on training, so prisoners can build a brighter future.

Taught by experienced tutors and supported by volunteers, Life Cycle provides prisoners with opportunities to earn a bicycle maintenance qualification, while giving back to the community.

Prison-based participants learn to refurbish donated bikes, saving them from landfill and returning them to local people as safe and sustainable modes of transport.

“We are thrilled to partner with Cytech to bring these transformative courses to local prisons,” said Ed Norton, Life Cycle’s CEO.

“Cytech courses are highly valued by the cycle industry, so we’re delighted to offer prisoners an opportunity to give back to the community, while achieving a qualification that can set them on a different path after release.

“We believe that everyone deserves a second chance, and providing practical skills is a vital part of that process.”

In addition to the prison-based courses, Life Cycle will expand its offering to the public in the coming months.

Based at Life Cycle’s Bristol “Hub”, this is part of Life Cycle’s commitment to “strengthen the cycling sector” by growing the number of skilled mechanics in local communities and businesses.

Jonathan Harrison, on behalf of the Association of Cycle Traders (ACT), said “Our new partnership with Life Cycle will allow us to offer Cytech training to more people in the UK than ever.

“Making high quality industry training more accessible and also increasing the pool of trained, dedicated technicians available to bike workshops up and down the country is important to Cytech and we feel Life Cycle are a great fit in sharing and achieving this goal.

“Life Cycle’s work with rehabilitation and vocational training offered to prisoners and ex-offenders is also a great example of the ethos of the business, that we will continue to support and help grow here in the UK.”

For more information about Life Cycle and its programmes, including upcoming Cytech courses open to the public, visit Life Cycle’s website.