The Bike Station - Recycle to Cycle Project
The Executive offered a Sustainable Action Grant of £35,975 over 2004-07 (£12,227 in 2004-05, £11,789 in 2005-06 and £11,959 in 2006-07) to the Bike Station for their Recycle to Cycle project - extending Bike Station work as a regional project throughout the Lothians. A previous grant from the Sustainable Action Fund for 2001-2004 funded work within Edinburgh, with a part-time community outreach worker working with local community groups, agencies and volunteers.
The group offers cycle maintenance training to the general public and teenagers who have been excluded from, or dropped out of, mainstream education. Volunteers restore old or damaged bicycles for people who need an affordable roadworthy bike, and gain valuable skills and experience, as well as a formal Cytech qualification in cycle maintenance.
Over the three years, the intention was to work with 100 community groups in each local authority area, including disadvantaged communities. The benefits would include health, transport and social benefits for the community, employment and training opportunities in areas of social exclusion; volunteering opportunities; reduction in waste - diverting bikes from landfill and sorting into metal and aluminium; and social justice through accessibility to affordable transport, particularly in rural areas.
Activity increased in 2005-2006 - with 1,634 bicycles donated or received, equating to 24.5 tonnes of waste diverted from landfill - a doubling on 2004-05, when 854 bikes were received. The majority of bicycles received by the Bike Station are from members of the public bringing their old bikes direct to the workshop, but the Bike Station began home collections, especially with the joint purchase of a van after a successful application to the Scottish Executive's INCREASE fund. This fund also helped the Bike Station produce a handbook on bike recycling to assist other organisations across the UK set up as bike recycling projects.
Within Edinburgh, the Edinburgh Furniture Initiative began to store bicycles at Edinburgh's Civic Amenity sites, for subsequent collection by the Bike Station and the Bike Station took part in several initiatives to promote the recycling of bikes, including the City of Edinburgh's Waste Aware scheme. There were Build Your Own Bike courses for pupils from selected Edinburgh schools referred to the Duke of Edinburgh scheme because they required support to prevent them from truanting and showing other signs of disruptive behaviour.
In February 2006, the Bike Station was accredited by Cycling Scotland as a Cycle Training Centre. Several Bike Station volunteers were put through cycle training courses to become qualified instructors at different levels, from off-road trail cycle leaders to playground cycle proficiency level.
During 2006-2007, the Bike Station continued to grow and develop with increases in the quantities of bikes processed and diverted from landfill, and in its other activities. The most significant development of the year was the move from Waverley Station to larger premises in Newington.
In 2006-07 1325 bikes were repaired and refurbished, and put back on the road. This compared to 883 and 359 in the two previous years. A questionnaire completed by customers showed that 21% of people who bought a bike from the Bike Station would not otherwise have bought a bike, and 67% would have looked for a second-hand bike elsewhere.
Work with schools, offering bike maintenance and cycle training, included every primary school in Midlothian, as well as schools in Edinburgh, with activities also in East Lothian and West Lothian. The Bike Station supplied the Woodburn Youth Group, Dalkeith, with a fully-equipped workshop to form the basis of their bike maintenance project, which aimed to provide meaningful activities for local young people. This took place over a two-year period and included several bike building and bike maintenance courses, Dr Bike cycle fixing for members of the local community, and the kitting out of a fully-equipped bike workshop. This gave the Woodburn Youth Group an ongoing bike club based in their community centre.
Similarly, the Bike Station worked with the Broxburn Family Centre in West Lothian over a long period, providing events and activities such as guided bike rides and bike maintenance workshops. From early 2006 the Bike Station collected bicycles for recycling from all over the Lothians, instead of relying on members of the public bringing them to their premises. Many collections were arranged by volunteers and service users from the Garvald Centre, who came from all over the Lothians. This increased the quantity of bikes diverted from the waste stream.
Arranging and organising cycle-related activities in West Lothian was much easier than in East and West Lothian as that county has a much larger population. In East and Midlothian, there seem to be fewer voluntary organisations so most work was arranged through the two local authorities, or in conjunction with other organisations such as Sustrans. In Midlothian, efforts led to attending every primary school offering bike repair prior to cycle training and bike maintenance workshops, principally puncture repair classes. This was done with support from Sustrans.
The Bike Station worked in partnership with Shotts prison from 2006, with the prison workshop repairing and refurbishing over 400 children's bikes and providing training to short-term inmates as part of the prison's restorative justice.
As well as work with bicycle recycling projects in Perth, Stirling and Kirkcaldy, work continued in Edinburgh with the Edinburgh Generous City Network and the Community Recycling Network. Bikes were distributed to individuals or families being supported by other agencies or organisations, including the Ark Trust, the Rankeillor Initiative, Shelter, Dunedin Harbour Hostel and the Homelink Partnership.
The Bike Station increased the overall percentage of earned income as a proportion of its total income, through trading and associated activities. Training courses and other activities, such as contracted bike maintenance and cycle training, were a crucial income stream. Bike Station employment reached two full-time and one part-time mechanics. The Bike Station continued to have a committed team of volunteers from a wide variety of backgrounds who regularly gave time to the project.
Contact
The Bike Station, 250 Causewayside, Edinburgh EH9 1UU.
Telephone: 0131 668 1996
E-mail: info@thebikestation.org.uk
Website: www.thebikestation.org.uk