Our Staff Team

Doirrean Lalor

People & Culture Lead (currently on maternity leave)

Doireann joined the Broken Spoke team to help develop the volunteering programmes and now holds governance and HR at the Spoke. Her background is in working with volunteers in coops and grassroots organisations that tackle climate change and build community resilience. She’s excited to put her “people” experience to work, for the first time, in a community bike project.

Alison Preston

Administrator

Alison is delighted to join the Broken Spoke team. Having lived in Oxford for over 12 years, cycling has been a big part of her life here. From commuting herself on two wheels to watching her 5 year old son develop a deep passion for cycling that is certainly infectious.

Alisons background is in marketing, with particular interest in event management, brand building and messaging.

“I think what Broken Spoke does is great. The ethos behind its aims and the genuine passion of the people involved is fantastic. I am excited to help reach communities and play a part in making cycling and mechanical knowledge more accessible to all’’

Laura Hancock

Comms and Community Coordinator

Laura is a recent addition to the Broken Spoke team and brings her experience of comms, organising and enthusiasm for building community into her role. She is co-creator of the Yoga Teachers Union, IWGB, the first trade union for yoga teachers in the UK, and is a yoga teacher and massage therapist. One of Laura’s great passions is how care and wellbeing is valued, supported and integrated into our society. Dismantling the patriarchy is a massive part of that!

Loïse Conod

Ops Lead

Arriving in Oxford as a family, Loise had decided to live without a car and cycling as much as possible. A climate change choice. So, she had to learn more about bike maintenance! That’s how she came across Broken Spoke.

Starting as a volunteer and later qualifying in Cytech 2, Loise joined Broken Spoke as a mechanic and more recently also became an Ops Lead.

"Coming here, I've discovered a strong and amazing community! I like very much the idea of sharing our knowledge, learning from each other, empowering people from different backgrounds. That’s what drives me and has driven me through my different jobs."

Her previous qualifications and experience is in special needs pedagogy and music therapy.

Simon Barnes

Ops Lead, Repairs Mechanic and DIY Session Leader

Simon is quite new to the team at Broken Spoke. He caught the cycling bug early in life. Ex-cycle courier, ex-bike racer, and when not riding, am armchair enthusiast. Simon loves any opportunity to convince others to go on a cycling adventure, fixing up bikes and infecting others with the cycling bug!

James Choularton

Mechanic Team Coordinator

James is excited to join the Broken Spoke team marking the start of his next big ride. “The only things that comes close to riding bikes is sharing that passion with like minded people and possibly wrenching on peoples bikes to make them run perfectly!”

Mark Chappell

Bookkeeper

With a 30 year career in IT Management behind him and subsequent Community and Charity positions his passions now include living and cycling in the Welsh hills whilst keeping all the numbers in order for Broken Spoke.

Jonathan Darby

DIY Session Leader, Bike Recycling Session Leader and Repairs Mechanic

Most of Jonathan's working life has been as an educator/researcher in schools and universities while bikes and cycling has been my passion. He first got involved with Broken Spoke as a volunteer 7 years ago and loved the work so much he got Cytech 2 trained and joined the staff team, leading open workshops, teaching courses and more recently repairing bikes in the workshop. Jonathan also volunteer running the bike recycling programme. “I love what Broken Spoke does and can't wait for us to be filling the workshop once again with people fixing their own bikes.”

Tim Hunt

DIY Session Leader

Tim has been involved with Broken Spoke from just after the get go, as both a volunteer and staff member. For Tim, The Spoke has always provided a fantastic space populated by fantastic individuals with opportunities to learn a huge amount about bikes and people. “There have been times when I have needed help, support and sometimes space and the amazing Broken Spoke family have always given anything and everything they can for which I am hugely grateful.”

Dave Maybrick

Repairs Mechanic

Dave initially trained as an actor & a film-maker, and has now moved into the world of cycle mechanics. The absolute freedom of riding a bike is something that unifies everyone who does it. Broken Spokes position as a community project means working with people in a way that hopefully fosters & supports a lifelong desire to move about on two wheels, and he’s keen to get stuck in.

Kat Young

Kat has been part of Broken Spoke’s Team Beryl since 2014. She enjoys enabling others to develop their mechanical skills and dismantling the patriarchy. Kat rides mostly for cake, with the Condors in Oxfordshire or further afield on audaxes and tours, both on and off-road

Cedric Niard

Cycle Instuctor

Cedric is one of our Cycling Instructors and loves being able to make a difference helping people become confident cyclists. Being part of the Broken Spoke Team to him, is more about the people and how we support our communities.

Janet Stansfeld

Cycle Instructor

Janet is delighted to be joining Broken Spoke as an instructor. A lifelong keen cyclist with a professional background in community music, she loves supporting and empowering others in practical ways. Janet is particularly motivated to broaden access to resources to those who might otherwise face barriers. Warm encouragement and humour are key aspects of her teaching style.

Our Board of Trustees

Emily Harford

I first got involved with the spoke by contributing to the crowd funder. When I came to pick up my reward hat, I realised how many people in the DIY workshop were doing things I could do, and could do well enough to teach. So I started being a workshop volunteer. During the pandemic I started helping with my other skills, interviewing, and helping to design and build the outdoor workshop space. Then I was invited to stand for election to the board. In real life I'm a mechanical engineering so I do like getting my hands dirty in my own time.

Polly Kerr

Polly freely admits to being more of a runner than a cyclist, but her 4 year-old mastering a pedal bike has inspired her to get back on hers more! She cares deeply about making cycling safer and more enjoyable for everyone, and wants to encourage more middle-aged mums like her to feel confident having a go at bike mechanics. She has a muddled (varied) CV covering editorial work, volunteer management, relationship building and training, mainly in health and medicine.

Tom Botwell

Tom is passionate about cycling, both commuting and with his local club, Abingdon OTCC, and with the Thames Valley section of the Tandem club. He has over 10 years’ experience working on and with boards, and in his day job manages a board of 25 volunteers, representing over 250 companies in a medium sized trade association to try to influence government, to promote UK manufacturing. As CEO, he's involved with all elements of corporate governance, as well as strategic and financial planning with the board. Tom's keen to use this valuable experience to make a big difference to Broken Spoke as a trustee, particularly in the areas of commercial development, income generation, strategy, HR and financial oversight.

Kate Roll

Kate Roll is a political scientist and educator, who became involved with BSBC as a student in the first 'Build a Bike' course. She grew up outside of Boston, USA, spending lots of time on bikes and outdoors. She's been in Oxford since 2009 after extended periods living in Indonesia, East Timor, and Australia. In her day-to-day she thinks a lot about how to help her students thrive.

Mike Hicks

Mike Hicks has been a Broken Spoke volunteer (on and off) since 2016, and has been a member of community-based bicycle and food co-ops in the US and Europe since 2008. He enjoys long-haul bike touring, amateur bike polo, and sunny afternoon rides. In his less free moments he is a research fellow in philosophy of physics at the University of Birmingham.

Laureen McHaffie