Bikes at the dump.......
- Thread starter Synthiaks
- Start date
Some smart operator who has seen the market explode for certain old bikes and parts has signed a contract with the council to take them away, I met a bloke in Milton Keynes who had a similar arrangement, operating as a ''''''charity''''' that does indeed ship refurbed BSO's to Africa, which is no bad thing, but all the treasure ends up being sold to the highest bidder off the books.
He's only doing what many of us are already doing, but he's upscaled the process to an industrial level, his warehouse is massive, he even found a way to get other people to fund the tedious bits like sorting through all the bikes and parts and cleaning them up etc, he has volunteers and gets government grants and donations lol. Plus he's giving kids in Africa bikes to ride which is great, it's just a shame that we can no longer head down the tip in search of a bargain find because these charities are hoovering them all up.
It is funny how people who run charities are always loaded
Synthiaks
Senior Retro Guru
Yes.....charity work is often well paid, not getting into it though...have a relative and a couple of friends who work for charities & have a had a few 'discussions' over pay levels and perks, but as with everything assume it varies a lot.
Anyhow, he sounds a clever chap, good luck to him and hopefully they keep some treasure from disappearing, not sure they need rare retro in Africa, just relaiable transport and its a worthy cause even if he's wetting his beak on the side.....to be really clever you'd need to predict whats beig dumped now that no ones picked up on as future treasure, but need a crystal ball for that.
Anyhow, he sounds a clever chap, good luck to him and hopefully they keep some treasure from disappearing, not sure they need rare retro in Africa, just relaiable transport and its a worthy cause even if he's wetting his beak on the side.....to be really clever you'd need to predict whats beig dumped now that no ones picked up on as future treasure, but need a crystal ball for that.
That's something we all would love!
You have small fishermen who know from experience where to look and what signs to watch out for, who are patient and don't mind relying on a little bit of help from lady luck, then there are the Super dredgers who scrape up everything in their path knowing there'll be some prime cod and lobster in there somewhere.
Personally I'd like to see less of the Super dredgers in all aspects of life, even those who present themselves as philanthropists.
Synthiaks
Senior Retro Guru
Pay levels do indeed vary a lot at charities. There's no getting away from the fact that some charity jobs need to be well paid. For example, if you're making a donation on their website - you'd probably hope they had someone appropriately qualified building and running it - and willing to do that on an ongoing basis. Given the cost of living - few skilled individuals can offer that level of service for free.
On the flipside, working in charities tends to attract the middle classes and they aren't generally interested in working for low wages. Some charities are based in expensive cities like London which again results in higher costs.
I have a rather skewed view of charity having worked closely with many over the years, for example I worked with the British Veterans association for a while, finding out they were sitting on MILLIONS while homeless veterans were hitting record numbers really turned my stomach, sadly I'm of the belief that all hierarchies, no matter how noble their beginnings, eventually become corrupted and co-opted by people who have no real interest or emotional investment in the original sentiments that led to their creation. I've seen charity dinners that would blow your mind, millionaires and billionaires showing up for a Michelin starred feast and access to beautiful young models while signalling their virtue for the press.
Not that I'm anti charity, but for me charity is about what we do as individuals in our daily lives, those unnoticed often small and seemingly insignificant acts of generosity and kindness that many people do all the time for no other reason than they can, be it helping an elderly neighbour with her bins or just smiling at a passing stranger and saying hello, too many people think that setting up a £10 direct debit to some behemoth NGO is somehow making the world a better place, when in reality they are merely farming out their good deeds and selling off their guilt to a third party who has absolutely no intention of fixing the issues and putting themselves out of business.
/Rant
Synthiaks
Senior Retro Guru
I'm sure there are levels, my personal experience is genuine, but very limited...still its a bit shocking as to pay rates/attitude, these are people working for large well known charities, I know people in similar positions in the private sector being significantly less well compensated regardless of London weighting, plus not being all superior becuase they're doing good works for charity and yes unfortunately corruption is something thats endemic in humanity generally, no one will ever cure that cancer.
But I'm not here to get moral or political...I'm neither either, sure there are many forums for that....here its all about vintage MTB & this guy may be slightly scamming, but if hes genuinely helping people get mobile in Africa then thats a good thing....as it saving the odd treasure.
My main beef was I could't scam a £5 Marin & a set of AT18s myself!
But I'm not here to get moral or political...I'm neither either, sure there are many forums for that....here its all about vintage MTB & this guy may be slightly scamming, but if hes genuinely helping people get mobile in Africa then thats a good thing....as it saving the odd treasure.
My main beef was I could't scam a £5 Marin & a set of AT18s myself!
