The idea
Bike Worcester is a community group, which works with local people, press and politicians to make cycling accessible to more people, as a fun family activity, a form of independence and a way to make healthy, sustainable travel choices.
We have been working for a while with others in the community to plan a bike recycling scheme. We want to make bikes available at affordable prices locally and we want to keep decent bikes, that just need a little TLC, from being scrapped or even sent to landfill.
We have been given great advice by similar groups around the region and are getting all the paperwork and insurances in place. We have been offered workshop and storage space at the Crowngate centre; we have people already donating bikes; and we have a whole load of volunteers who can teach, learn and get on with bike servicing and recycling.
We don't need a lot more to make this happen, but do need to buy the tools and spares that are needed to get us going.
What we'll deliver
- Recycle old bikes to keep them out of landfill
- Provide affordable bikes to people locally
- Give people skills and confidence to service and fix bikes
Why it's a great idea
By recycling bikes, rather than letting them be scrapped, we will be greatly reducing the raw materials and energy consumption compared to making a new bike and disposing of an old one. This sustainability and energy saving benefit is really important right now and for the future.
We have already been donated a fair proportion of kids' bikes which means we will be able to help parents who cannot afford to keep buying ever bigger bikes for their growing children. As well as providing immediate enjoyment, we hope this will nudge children towards healthy habits and sustainable travel choices that stay with them for life.
We are planning Saturday morning and Wednesday evening sessions for volunteers to come together, teach and/or learn and apply bike maintenance skills. We think this will be a really important social element. This project was the idea of a younger Bike Worcester member who is doing Duke of Edinburgh award at Gold level. We hope to bring more DofE volunteers together.
Steps to get it done
- 2. Obtain access to storage space at Crowngate
- 3. Buy tools, equipment and parts - several sets of basics, less of more expensive and unusual tools
- 4. Plan and promote launch event to volunteers
- 1. Arrange insurance and produce health and safety assessments, etc.
- 5. Refurbish current set of donated bikes
- 6. Advertise refurbished bikes for sale
- 7. Advertise for donations of further bikes
The bike storage space at Crowngate has proven very successful. Beyond this we are grateful to the owners and management of the centre for pledging to provide some of the space below the shops for us to use as a workshop and for storage of bikes and equipment.
