USING BICYCLES AS A VEHICLE

FOR SOCIAL CHANGE

THE BIKE STATION IMPACT REPORT

2020

WHO WE ARE

The Bike Station’s mission is to develop connectivity corridors and environmentally sustainable communities by empowering people to have greater freedom of movement. Our programmes support healthier, happier and more affordable journeys.

Using bicycles as a vehicle for social change is at the heart of The Bike Station’s activities . Our bikes play a vital part in providing an affordable and reliable means of transport , helping contribute to an individual’s personal and financial wellbeing.

Annually we save over 10,000 bikes a year from landfill and provide over 2,500 people with affordable refurbished bicycles. Our diverse team of mechanics and volunteers refurbish bicycles which become the foundation for our community activities. The bikes not used for communities work are for sale in our shops.

Our community activity is well established, and across our programmes, we enable greater:

1) access to affordable bikes 2) mental health and confidence building 3) skills development and pathways to employment

We work with several different communities across our programmes including youth groups, employability charities, all-ability cycling groups, prisons, universities, nurseries and workplaces.

Our visionThe Bike Station is Edinburgh and Perth’s foremost bicycle recycling and cycling promotion charity.

The Bike Station promotes cycling in all its forms by refurbishing donated bikes and re-using components,

enabling healthier, happier and more affordable journeys, developing skills, confidence and the spirit of

adventure, and supporting better connected and environmentally sustainable communities.

Recycle-to-Cycle Ltd is a charitable company limited by guarantee.Registered in Edinburgh under company number SC237798 and SC237799. Scottish charity number SC033703.

1

This amazing yellow and black Cervelo was donated by Edinburgh University to raise money for our Hero Bikes scheme.

In some ways, 2020 was a year of brilliance, fortitude and outstanding team effort. In others, it ’s been relentless hard work in an environment filled with uncertainty, hardship and loss. We were finalising plans for the coming year when it became evident the emerging pandemic would significantly impact our future. None of us truly grasped the magnitude of what was going to come, and we were uncertain what it meant for our community and The Bike Station. The months that followed were full of change and challenge; in an ever-shifting landscape, we adapted, adjusted and kept going. Our team demonstrated and continues to demonstrate a steadfast commitment, resilience and energy. There was unanimous support for making sure we stayed open and provided as many bikes as possible. Everybody showed up; from that first day and every day since. With many of our team at home and our mechanics working at a reduced capacity, we still knew our bikes could be part of the answer. We ended up selling an extraordinary amount of bikes in the first few weeks of lockdown, with queues around the block and starting in the small hours. Our stock quickly depleted, we started building as many bikes as possible and struggled to keep up with demand. Simultaneously, we also wanted to make sure our bikes were going to those most in need. We launched Hero Bikes within weeks, providing free bicycles to key workers. Again, the demand was exceptional. Our mechanics refurbished bike after bike to enable our community to continue to cycle as much as possible. In the summer, we launched our online skill development sessions, to enable people to develop the skills to look after their bike remotely. We had hoped, like many, to return in the autumn to face-to-face training and a more familiar operating environment. In the face of another wave, the team have continued to develop and thrive. Our communities team have been building local partnerships to continue to make our bikes available to those most in need. Our recycling and refurbishing team have been accepting donated bikes, building bikes and making minor repairs. Our office team have been continually supporting our operations and keeping us going. Most of our volunteers have remained at home and how we have missed them. We look forward to their return. Finally, our Board has been proactive, engaged and ever supportive of us. It has been a phenomenal team effort . When we look through the comments from our customers or see our key workers’ photos with their new bikes, we’re moved and warmed to see what is possible in a time of crisis . It has been our immense privilege to provide a local response to the challenges presented last year. This impact report seeks to celebrate the collective team effort made during the most extraordinary and often challenging times. I want to take this opportunity to thank each and every team member, volunteer, customer, supporter and funder, for all of your contribution and without which it wouldn’t have been possible.

Sasha TaylorThe Bike Station CEO

2

THE CHALLENGES OF 2020

3,353BIKE DONATIONS

50 TONNES OF BIKES SAVED FROM LANDFILL

4 CARGO BIKESWORKING IN THE COMMUNITY TO REDUCE EMISSIONS

130CLASSES

OF FIX YOUR OWN BIKE ONLINE

WERE OFFERED TO THE PUBLIC

51BIKE LOANS

WERE MADE IN PERTH & KINROSS

129PLAY ONPEDAL BIKES

WERE SENT OUT AND

MAINTAINED AT 29 SCHOOLS

1,058 BIKES

COLLECTED FROMRECYCLING CENTRESIN PERTH & KINROSS

375HOURS WERE LOGGED

BUILDING BIKES THROUGH OUR

PRISON PROJECT

518HOURS

WERE SPENT BUILDING HERO BIKES FOR KEY

WORKERS

RECYCLING & REUSE

BIKE REFURBISHMENTIn 2020, our mechanics spent roughly 4,555 hours spent working on bikes.

• 1,822 of the bikes found new homes, inspiring new cyclists . • Over 200 were specially made into Hero Bikes for our key workers . • The remaining bikes are in our warehouse awaiting their next adventure.

Like many charities, we felt the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Our public donations plummeted, and recycling centres were closed during the national lockdown. Also, with many of our staff and volunteers required to remain at home, we saw a reduction of bikes being refurbished and reduced recycling capacity.

Yet, we believe this year still has cause for celebration as we were able to adapt and provide a local response to the crisis. We gave back to our community by launching our Hero Bikes program and ensuring continued support to the local green economy.

• 17 tonnes collected from across nine Perth & Kinross Recycling Centres.• 33 tonnes from donations in Edinburgh.• 24 tonnes of bikes were reused.• 22 tonnes of bikes were recycled.

In 2020, we saved 50 tonnes of bikes from landfills; this is the equivalent of 7.5 Tyrannosaurus! These bikes are then re-furbished, harvested for parts and, the unused metal is recycled. We also distribute bikes to other organisations for reuse and make second-hand parts and accessories available for purchase. This enables us to support a more sustainable environment by promoting reuse, recycling and repair. This year our numbers are down because of limited staff/volunteers and fewer donations.

Alpine Bikes donated last year’s fleet of Trek mountain bikes, valued at £15,000. These bikes were very popular and sold right away!

4

RECYCLING, REUSE & REFURBISHMENT

In 2020 we weren’t able to run our Fix Your Own Bike (FYOB) or Dr Bike sessions. We look forward to being able to offer FYOB to our communities again the future.

HERO BIKESWhen we saw the impact Covid-19 was going to have on our community, we realised we could help. Transportation during the first national lockdown became restricted, and key-workers who couldn’t work from home had an increased risk of exposure and less transport options available. We started Hero Bikes to provide free bikes to key workers during the first national lockdown. Our Heroes also received a free helmet, light kit , and lock.

65%TOLD US HOW

MUCH JOY THEIRHERO BIKE

GAVE THEM. 70%ARE USING

THEIR HERO BIKETO COMMUTE.

48%SAVED TIME ON THEIR

COMMUTE, GIVINGTHEM MORE TIME

WITH THEIR FAMILIES.

48%TALKED ABOUT HOW

THEIR HERO BIKE IMPROVED THEIR

FITNESS.

24%ARE NOW

ENCOURAGINGOTHERS TO

CYCLE.

“ I have used it almost every day since I got it , mostly to go to work but also for exercise and pleasure.

I do feel fitter now than when I first got the bike and have recently been given a tagalong bike so I can take my youngest grandson along with his siblings on cycle rides.“Yvonne, pupil support assistant, Perth

30%SAW AN

IMPROVEMENT IN THEIR MENTAL

HEALTH.

5

Dee, Nurse

OTHER COMMUNITIES PROJECTS

Perth School Bike Library

This innovative project lends bikes to children living in deprived areas of Perth and Kinross. Alongside our partner, Sustrans I-Bike, we collect and store bikes for this exciting project. We are also donating a small fleet of bikes to help empower youth in our community.

E-Cargo bikes

Our e-cargo bike project aims to reduce our communities carbon footprint and challenge the way we view day to day deliveries. Thanks to a generous grant from Energy Saving Trust, we were able to purchase four e-cargo bikes. Our original dream was to use them to reduce the journey made by our diesel vans. However, like most organisations, we had to adapt these plans due to Covid-19. We have now begun leasing out the cargo bike to various charities in our community.

One of our cargo bikes being put to work at Streetworks. They are using cargo bikes to deliver meals to homeless people in Edinburgh.

Fix Your Own Bike: Online TrainingOur goal is to empower our community to feel confident when maintaining their bikes. To continue providing skills training during Covid-19, we developed online training sessions supporting people to run basic safety checks right through to adjusting their gears."Incredibly helpful, the instructor was very knowledgeable, patient, and provided tons of details and tips"

Our communities projects are the backbone of what we do as a charity. Covid-19 meant we had to cancel many of our public-facing activities and shift our focus. Instead, we took this time to develop our network and understand our community ’s needs, enabling us to develop into a more robust and inspired organisation.

Social Cycle Project

This Perth-based project encourages people to try cycling and start using bikes for transport and adventure. In partnership with Perth and Kinross Council, Perth Royal Infirmary, Perth College and Zero Waste Perth, we offered free loans of bikes and accessories, guided rides and Dr Bike sessions.

Venture Trust The Change Cycle project provides opportunities for young people excluded from traditional education. “Everybody should join it because it ’s a brilliant course. You get a lot of qualifications out of it. You get a bike, [and a huge] amount of help.“

6

Developing our ground up approach, by empowering our community with bikes.

You’ve probably not yet heard of Shifting Gears, but we’re excited to start talking about this new initiative.

Shifting Gears is based on feedback and the impact we saw from the Hero Bikes program, which continues to inspire us. It also made us realise there was more work to do! Shifting Gears provides year-round opportunities to improve health & wellbeing, make new social connections, build confidence and learn new skills. Participants will have access to a wide range of cycling-related programmes and activities customised to their individual needs & goals.

SHIFTING GEARS

Our partners:

Edinburgh• Score Scotland• Cyrenians Social Bite Village• Shakti Women’s Aid

One of our remarkable Hero Bike recipients loved her bike so much she wanted to help support our other communities projects by selling handmade woolly hats.

Perth• PKAVs Carers Hub• Perth Autism Support• Move Ahead

(NHS Tayside)

• Refugee support services (Perth Council Throughcare and Aftercare for Young Unaccompanied Asylum Seekers and Syrian Support Group)

7

OUR TEAM

“At first, I was a bit unsure and anxious about what would happen to the business, but then I saw the plan and direction we were headed, and I felt confident. It was hard work and quite relentless, but once I started seeing how my work impacted people positively, it became extremely rewarding. I enjoyed getting to know my colleagues better. It became important for our company to communicate regularly to keep pace with the ever-changing landscape. This year has made me more confident and bursting with pride at how we coped during Covid-19 and motivated to continue to be involved going forward.“

- Alan, Perth mechanic

This vibrant Thorn tandem was a hit online and sold on ebay for £1200

We had an average of 200 volunteer hours a month before cancelling all volunteer in March due to Covid-19.

Our Edinburgh branch celebrating building the 100th Hero Bike!

VOLUNTEERS

Covid-19 meant we had to reduce our capacity, as most of our team was furloughed or required to work from home. We had to cancel our volunteers and even had bikes built in home garages. Our team flawlessly adapted and adjusted to this new way of working, while maintaining their energy and passion for cycling. We couldn’t be more proud of this.

The Bike Station is proud to announce that we are now a Living Wage employer.

8

PROFILE The Guardian: ‘Hero bikes’: how free bicycles are transforming the lives of Scotland’s key workers’:https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/may/29/hero-bikes-free-bicycles-transforming-lives-scotland-key-work-ers-coronavirus

BBC’s: Scotland’s People 2020https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p08r6yft/scotlands-people-2020

Regional Champion for Edinburgh in Scotland Loves Local’s High Street Heroes awards:https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/18842794.favourite-local-business-voted-high-street-hero-see-full-list-every-scot-tish-region/

BBC Radio - ‘ The Afternoon Show’ hosted our CEO Sasha Taylor to talk about our Hero Bike Programhttps://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000kg28?fbclid=IwAR0_2RqLI7XbO9b7JiG4Xqg5EeBrdRq4oMU1CKw4yEw-1GY0o7Urn9BNCNyU

CRNS - Lockdown Conversations – Bikes for Key Workershttps://www.crns.org.uk/lockdown-conversation-with-scottish-bike-organisations/

Social Enteprise Scotland - Digital showcase demonstrates social enterprise resilience https://vimeo.com/475037886

Recovery Strategy for Europe - Which role plays the social economy in building a resilient and sustainable economy?https://hopin.com/events/recovery-strategy-for-europe

FINANCE

Training

Retail

Grants

Training

Retail

Grants

Fundraising

Covid-19 Grants

Last Year This Year

9

PERTH & KINROSS SUPPORTING COMMUNITIES FUND

FUNDERS & SUPPORTERS

BALDOUKIE CHARITABLE TRUST

10

Recycle-to-Cycle Ltd, is a charitable company limited by guarantee.Registered in Edinburgh under company number SC237798 and SC237799. Scottish

charity number SC033703.

Edinburgh250 Causewayside

EdinbughEH9 1UU

Perth284 High Street

PerthPH1 5QS

thebikestation.org.uk