A call for more CycleCharge volunteers...
CycleCharge Representatives: Do you like travelling around, exploring new places? Are you good with people? Could you speak to business owners and persuade them of the benefits of becoming Charge Points? Or perhaps you would just like to hand out some leaflets in your area, find leads and/or contact businesses for us online by e-mail? We need more Charge Points in all areas of the UK, Channel Isles, Ireland, and beyond. If you can help us, please get in touch. Remember this is our primary purpose, building a large network of public free to use Charge Points. The new site will enable volunteers to oversee their own Charge Point 'territory' if they want to. Representative volunteers will receive recognition for their efforts in signing Charge Points. There will also be regular competitions and prizes and awards for those who sign the most Charge Points. We'll also supply you with all the materials you need including a CycleCharge Representative ID card, and we'll cover some personal expenses, if you decide to travel further a field or make a day of it! Anyone good at photography on-site, or doing write-ups of Charge Points, or registering their details for them, would be welcome too. Perhaps you can team up with volunteers in your area who prefer to do the talking/presentation side and support them?
Writers & Editors: Can you research/find or write articles/content related to e-bikes and climate change (particularly batteries, charging, social, economic and environmental benefits etc)? We could also use site editors and moderators (the new site has commenting, discussion areas, live chat and social networking site feeds).
Programmers & Web Development: Anyone familiar with the WordPress platform who wants to help develop and support the new site is welcome. Anyone with PHP, Perl, MySQL, Apache2, and general Web server admin/developer skills would be very useful and welcome volunteers. One particular area we need help with is mapping Charge Points, using Google Maps (and other services). Our existing mapping is fairly primitive so we need to improve it! The ideal scenario would be enter two postcodes, and you get a map that shows the quickest/scenic routes, and shows the Charge Points with links to their profile portals on our sites CP directory.Speaking of which, we need to re-think the portals and advertising side, how CP's can use it better to communicate with members, offer special price deals or offers to encourage members to visit etc. We also need an opt-in mailing list for CP's to use and newsletter templates. The main benefit to CP's is free advertising & marketing to an ever growing community of e-bike users, so this is an area we really need to develop well.
Battery Repairs & Recycling: We already have about 5 volunteers in this group, but welcome more. We need individuals ideally with an electronics or electrical engineering background (ideally qualified), however capable hobbyists/amateurs are very welcome too. Repairs will involve repairing CycleCharge branded batteries, and likewise, recycling, will involve salvaging good cells/BMS circuits etc from batteries beyond repair.All your costs will covered, and any tools or parts you need, supplied.
Battery development: A new specialised area..you will be helping to design, test and build the next generation of CycleCharge branded batteries. The aim is to design a range of batteries based on a common design which is intended to be easily serviceable by end users so batteries don't have to be serviced/disposed off so early. The BMS will have a matrix-style backlit LCD showing individual cell status. High quality cells will be used and easily replaceable by end users without any soldering required, using holders or clips for the cells. The BMS circuits and cells will be manufactured and sourced through our suppliers in China (or possibly the UK wholesale), but the actual finished end product will be assembled and QC/safety tested in the UK and then sold exclusively through the CycleCharge Ltd website. Battery designs and sales revenue will be asset-locked into the company for the benefit of members and the wider e-bike industry. Those building e-bikes will be able to order batteries at preferential prices and we will offer some flexibility on design, so volunteers may work in-conjunction with other companies to provide batteries and may receive payment directly from those companies. There is a lot of potential in this area and we see this as a big part of what CycleCharge does in the future, besides operating the Charge Point network. So we welcome anyone with design or business ideas, business skills (planning/marketing/management assistance), besides volunteers on the technical side.
Android App Support & Development: If anyone has any skills or interest in this area, we could really use volunteers to help develop a basic Android app for searching our Charge Point database, and adding new Charge Points from mobile devices. You don't necessarily have to be an Android developer, just having a knowledge of apps and a willingness to experiment with using existing apps would also be helpful.
Company Officers: CycleCharge is now a registered limited company (limited by Guarantee with trustee directors) and there are plans to apply for semi-charity status with the Charities Commission for tax exemption. At the moment, only myself and Lynda Graves (funkylyn) are on the board of directors. However, as the project activities expand and CycleCharge receives more funding, there will be more duties and responsibilities than we can both manage by ourselves. Eventually we need to appoint a treasurer/accountant/financial director and a marketing director/PR person, and probably various other roles will emerge. Depending on the duties or work involved, you may receive a small salary or be an unpaid volunteer with an expenses account, this will be negotiable. If any members fancy being on the board, or helping to run the company, then feel free to put your names forward. We'll probably take votes on appointments every few years.
Volunteers are unpaid for the time being, and as such you wouldn't be expected to put in long or regular hours. Just helping out whenever you can, and fitting things around your existing commitments and spare time is fine.
Note: In the not too distant future (later in the New Year), we are likely to receive some grants and private funding for CycleCharge Ltd. When this happens, some volunteers will be offered one-off payments for their time, or regular salaries for some part-time volunteers. Anyone who volunteers now, will be given preference in future when it comes to deciding who will be offered paid positions or work.
As always, this will be a collective decision though. Members will be consulted and will have a say in how finances are used. Our finances, expenditure and use of grant money will be transparent and accounts provided online for everyone to see.
