Matt Davidson

Matt was involved with Community Recycle Cycles from the beginning in 2012. He started as a volunteer under the original management, but when the focus changed from being a youth project to being a recycling bicycle business, he became a key part. 

As a keen cyclist and having originally become involved to develop his skills in bike mechanics, he had planned a cycling trip around Europe. When the original manager left, Matt offered to take on the mechanic role postponing his cycling trip.

He qualified as a CyTech L2 cycle mechanic in 2013 and for 2 years he helped to start up the business. At the beginning, Matt combined the work at the shop with his job in a cafe in Nantwich as we could not always be sure of having enough money to pay wages!

Although Matt enjoyed his work at Community Recycle Cycles, his real love was art. After 2 years he was able to take up a place at Brighton University to study illustration, being able to support himself financially as a qualified bike mechanic with 2 years of experience running the business.

Matt also designed our first logo, a permanent reminder of his contribution!

Marc Titley

Marc was working part time at a local supermarket when he came into the shop for some parts for his bike in 2016. He liked the atmosphere so much he joined the team as a volunteer and working with Ben, the lead mechanic at the time, helped to build up the profile of the shop.

We had started to support more local events and provide Dr Bike services at locations in the community and with his chatty manner and ease with the public, Marc quickly became a key member of the team.

The Fire and Rescue service had shelved it’s apprenticeship programme for a number of years, but when it reopened Marc decided he would apply. There were 1,000 applicants for which there were only 12 places so competition was fierce and Marc did really well to be accepted on the programme.

He successfully completed the apprenticeship, applied and was accepted as a full time fire fighter. Marc has continued with Cheshire Fire and Rescue, but has popped in to the shop when he has had some free time to help us out and keep his skills up in cycle mechanics!

Fin Smith

Fin joined us in 2017 to complete his volunteering section of the Duke of Edinburgh award. He was attending the UTC in Crewe and had a keen interest in mechanics, so a placement with us seemed a natural fit.

Although Fin had good knowledge and skills in the mechanical side, he  lacked confidence and found talking to people challenging, so having the opportunity to work as part of a team alongside people of different ages and experiences was going to be helpful for him.

He settled in well as part of the team and remained well after his allocated time, spending 2 years as a volunteer, before taking on a paid role at Halfords.

When looking at future plans he decided a career in the Royal Navy as a helicopter engineer was where he would like to be. The recruitment process is rigorous and although Fin was confident with the academic and physical aspects, the interview was a challenge for him.

 To help him with this we arranged a mock interview with a local business. Fin had to make his own way to the business in Nantwich, where he was interviewed exactly as any other applicant for a job and then received feedback on his performance. This process helped iron out any nerves he had and prepared him well for the Navy interview which was only a few days later.

I am delighted to say that Fin got his place in the Navy and has been working as a helicopter engineer. (He would also have been offered the other job too!)