Saw this on Facebook this morning.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/139839216034492/permalink/833644346653972/

Can anyone help me out in getting the word out about Charlotte’s Tandems? We need to get in to Newsletters, magazines, newspapers, Facebook groups, websites, Twitter feeds, email updates etc.
We are getting very few new enquiries at the moment and it’s still lovely cycling weather. Charlotte and I had to great rides this morning and this afternoon.

”We lend, at no cost (i.e. for free), tandems and tag-alongs to (and only to) people with disabilities or additional needs, who are unable to ride a bike safely on their own, so that they can enjoy the wonders of cycling.”

Joined FB group and shared. This us something I have been planning to do with a friend for a while .

Good work, jamj1974.
It always seems odd to me, when so many charities are short of resources, whether it’s food for hungry people, shelter for homeless people, or simply money, that Charlotte’s Tandems have got the resources, a big fleet of tandems, and can’t find enough people to ride them.

Thanks for the mention. I am a bit confused about your post, but if it was a compliment then thank you.

We, Charlotte’s Tandems, are very different from lots of established charities as we are all volunteers, so we don’t have any salary costs. Also we have no premises, so no costs there either. The vast majority of our expenditure goes on equipment and parts. We try to do things on a shoestring and it works.

We get lots of borrowers, as you can see on the feedback page on our website or on our Facebook site. We don’t sit back on our laurels though, as we then need to find who will borrow the tandem next, hence the need for lots of free advertising, please.

Our tandems don’t stick around some big sheds not being used: they are with our borrowers for the vast majority of the time, so that they can have lots of fun.

Our income is (rightly) much, much lower than those other charities that you mention. Our income since April (excluding Gift Aid) has been 18 hundred pounds.

I hope you now see how we are very different. Please tell even more people about us.

Best wishes,

Alex

Hi Alex, it was definitely meant as a compliment.
I may not have put it very well, but what I meant was, it must be better to have spare tandems and be searching for people to borrow them than to have a waiting list of borrowers and not enough tandems to go round.

Have you contacted Scope to promote this? They have a community forum where anyone can post, but they might also be up for promoting it via their newsletters etc…

Thanks Graham.
Sambuka, yes I have contacted Scope previously, though it would be great if you could post something on there for me. It always looks better if someone impartial recommends something, rather than just me plugging it all the time. Please point them to our website, CharlottesTandems.co.uk .
Alex