How does Bikes4Refugees work?

The owner of a bicycle that works fills in a form with information about the bike (size, type etc.) and the owner’s contact details. After filling the form the owner will receive an email containing further instructions on the delivery or collection of the bike. Note that all the bikes must be delivered to Helsinki and if a pick up is needed it will only happen in the Helsinki metropolitan area.

The refugee who needs a bike fills in a form asking about their wishes concerning the bike and information about the user of the bike. After a suitable bike is found, the refugee will receive an email with insturctions on where and when to pick up the bike. Note that at the moment all the bikes must be picked up from Helsinki.

The volunteer bike broker collects the donated bikes and delivers them to a collection point in Helsinki if need be. However the preferred method is that the donors deliver the bikes to the collection point themselves.

The recipient of the bike is also provided with support materials providing them with more information about Finnish traffic rules, traffic culture and required equipment for bikes.

Is there a communication channel for the volunteers?

Yes, volunteers are recommended to sign up for the Bikes4Refugees Facebook group.

In this group, volunteers can stay in contact with one another and the organisers of the campaign.

Who is organising the initiative?

In March 2022, Pyöräliitto (Finnish Cyclists’ Federation) began to consider ways to assist Ukrainians fleeing the war to Finland. At the same time, we heard that there was also a similar response in Denmark. We shaped the Bikes4Refugees initiative based on the Danish Cyclists’ Federation’ Giv En Cykel project and developed it slightly based on the Danes’ experiences.

The www.bikes4refugees.fi is maintained and the initiative is run by the Finnish Cyclists’ Federation and volunteers of the campaign. . 

The Finnish Cyclists’ Federation funds the coordination work using donations from companies and private individuals. You can sponsor the campaign with donations at https://pyoraliitto.fi/lahjoita

We would like to thank Fujitsu Finland Oy and Digitoimsto Dude for their help in creating the website! The campaign logo was drawn by Graziano Monteleone.

Contact details

If you have any questions not answered in the FAQ, please send them to pyorapakolaiselle@pyoraliitto.fi
If your company is interested in sponsoring this important initiative, please contact Matti Koistinen (matti.koistinen@pyoraliitto.fi, tel. +358 (0)44 2795588).