About Us
Community Cycleworks wants a healthier, cleaner and more sustainable world in which all young people have access to a bike, the skills to repair and the desire to ride for transport, health and discovery
Location
Our main London location is the Portland Street workshop which is located in the walled area next to Michael Faraday Primary School. We offer bikefix to the public on Friday afternoons between 3pm and 6pm, and Saturday’s 10.30 till midday is for women/trans/NB and midday till 4pm is open to all.
From the workshop we show members of the public how to fix their own bikes with the help of expert mechanics and volunteers.
Our Mission
Empowering young people to be mechanically self-sufficient and choose cycling as an everyday mode of transport as well as a tool for socialising, improving health and wellbeing and exploring their world, with a dose of adventure thrown in! We provide training for young people in bike repairs, lead rides, build cycling skills and confidence and provide opportunities to try other cycling activities.
For our 2022 impact report, see here
History
Stewart Vanns and Matt Beale-Collins formed Community Cycleworks in 2012 in answer to the problem of many children regularly complaining they couldn’t take part in the free Bikeability training and not being able to cycle as much as they wanted due to either, not having a bike or their bike being broken and them or their parents not having the skills and confidence to carry out basic repairs. Coupled with the ‘throw away’ culture, which saw many bikes being discarded unnecessarily that could be refurbished easily with some second hand parts. This spurred us on to create an organisation to work with young people and give them a safe space to learn repair skills for themselves, use second hand parts to keep costs low and give them access to an exciting programme of varied cycling activities to broaden their horizons and inspire them to cycle more.
Insight
Young people not cycling as much as they wish due to not having access to safe bikes. This is often due to lack of funds to repair and a lack of basic repair skills themselves. Young people do not see examples of diversity and inclusion in cycling, and are often unaware of the benefits of increased cycling levels in communities. They often lack the skills and confidence to choose cycling as everyday transport. A young population highly at risk from the health effects of inactivity. Increasing levels of childhood obesity, diabetes and other health conditions attributed to sedentary lifestyles. Global Climate Emergency and local air quality problems due to continued and unsustainable use of motorised vehicles for personal transport.
Meet the Team
Stewart
Managing director and founder. Fellow of the School For Social Entrepreneurs. Stewart is a cycle instructor and tutor mechanic, who brings enthusiasm and positive youth work together with bikes as the medium. Never happier than when he’s riding or planning the next big idea to get young people inspired about cycling. Having undertaken a number of solo cycle tours he understands the transformative nature of adventures by bike and pushing your boundaries.
Seb
Seb is a highly skilled mechanic, cycle instructor, ride leader, mountain biker and everyday rider with a passion for teaching people. He is integral to many of our workshop activities. He falls off the most too (because he is like a big child on a bike and plays around pushing his limits)
Hayley
Hayley, our London Workshop manager. A global bike traveller who bikepacked from the UK to Australia! A super-mechanic who loves teaching people to fix bikes and enjoys the stoke of riding fixie, mountain bike, road…anything really that involves fun on a bike. Hayley runs our Bikefix Fridays at Burgess Park ensuring the sessions run smoothly and we have enough staff and volunteers. Also working on our school workshops teaching children their first basics of bike repairs.
Ion
Ion started volunteering at the beginning of 2021. Mostly helping with Bikefix Fridays, but sometimes musters up the courage to go teach a school workshop. Works an office job the rest of the week so enjoys any chance to get his hands dirty. Passionate about healthy cities and getting people out of their cars.
Tom
Tom, mechanic and teacher. Tom leads a double life as a professional researcher and a cycle advocacy nut. He’s naturally nosey, loves meeting new people and is never happier than when sharing his passion for cycling as an accessible, practical and sustainable form of transport with the power to transform people’s lives. He’s especially keen on bike based DIY, giving riders the skills they need to keep their bikes on the road without having to rely on bike shops for simple everyday repairs.
Mike
Road rider mainly, committed bike commuter but loves the road racing thing too. Not so handy off-road (generally comical to watch him on a mountain bike). Bike coach, trainer, mechanic. Snodland Bike Club founding member and organiser of the Kent Projects. Mike gets such enjoyment out of seeing young people riding bikes, for either sport or fun…and adults too. Also the Community Cycleworks IT head honcho.
Emily
Emily is a cycle coach and instructor, ride leader and trainee cycle mechanic. Emily lives and rides in and around South London, coaching kids and adults on and off-road, and is the lead coach for our GirlsBike2 cycling club. Emily dabbles in various cycling disciplines herself, including road, track, gravel riding, mountain biking, and even a bit of cyclocross racing, and loves encouraging others to get out there and try new things on two wheels.
Meg
An absolute force of nature… Meg is often undertaking epic endurance rides in the UK and abroad with her trusty campervan. She loves the sound of dirt under tyre…a true mountain biker at heart. A qualified Mountain Bike Leader, Meg has been one of the GirlsBike2 leaders since 2021 and is also seen occasionally supporting our schools Fix a Bike Courses.
Expression of Interest
If you’re interested to know more about any of our services, or want to talk to us about how to get involved in fundraising please fill in this form or contact Stewart on 02080583994
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