A new home for Sheffield Community Bike Project!

After 2 years of building momentum, Sheffield Community Bike Project needs your help. We want to improve access to cycling by opening a community cycle workshop where the people of Sheffield can come and fix their bikes with help from our friendly volunteers.

Pictures of our REWARDS are at the bottom!

Please donate as much as you are able and share far and wide!

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WHO ARE WE?

Sheffield Community Bike Project (SCBP) is a volunteer-led charity with around 30 active members, all lovers of cycling dedicated to creating a space for all to share in the many benefits of bike maintenance.

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OUR STORY SO FAR... 

SCBP started in August 2022, when a group of us came together with a common vision to help the people of Sheffield fix their bikes. 

We first ran our sessions at Foodhall and since it closed we have been generously hosted by ArtCatalyst at Soft Ground. It’s a great space and we’re so grateful to them for letting us use it.

Over the last two years, we have built a dedicated volunteer team and we are proud of the impact we have had:

• We have run over 100 sessions and facilitated over 200 bike fixes.
• We have run 15 skill sessions focused on fixing different parts of a bike.

Demand for our sessions is increasing and we need a dedicated purpose-built workshop to expand our offer to the people of Sheffield.

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OUR VISION

After much searching, we are thrilled to have secured a permanent home on King Street, in Castlegate, central Sheffield. 

This new space will allow the project to expand the services and support we offer to the community, reaching more people, extending opening hours and allowing us to host community events. 

Bike maintenance sessions

We have been running weekly drop-in cycle maintenance sessions on Thursdays. They are pay-as-you-can and do-it-together, meaning our sessions are affordable to all and our volunteers will offer you the support and guidance you need. We aim to create a welcoming space where we can learn alongside each other, encouraging more people in the community to be able to look after their bikes.

Our dream is to be open five days a week: providing an affordable way for people to sort out any problem - from a rusty chain to squeaky brakes.

Training sessions

We have run several training sessions for volunteers focused on specific systems like brakes, wheels and gears. We want to provide a comfortable hub to run more training sessions and offer these to the public too.

Bike recycling

We are passionate about recycling. We refurbish donated bikes and give second-hand parts new life, but we get offered more donations than we have the space for. With more storage space we can become a bike recycling hub -  accepting and re-using as many donated bikes and parts from Sheffield’s cyclists as possible. In our new shop we’ll also have space to display our refurbished second-hand bikes for sale at affordable prices.

Outreach

Having a new permanent space, open more of the time, will allow us to reach more diverse sections of the community and people who face the most barriers to cycling. We will continue to work hard to create a welcoming and inclusive space and hope to run specific sessions for groups often underrepresented in cycling such as women, LBGTQ+ and disabled people. 

A community space

Having an established base will mean we can raise the profile of the project and collaborate more easily with other organisations. Our upstairs space will be available for use by other groups and organisations that need it. 

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WHY WE NEED YOUR HELP?

We are raising money to completely fit out the workshop and cover our costs for the first year while we are getting set up. Once established, we’ll be financially self-sufficient - we just need this boost to get up and running.

Funds will go towards: 

• Essential maintenance, electrical and building work to make the building safe
• Making sure the building is accessible (ramps etc.)
• Our shop front
• Installing security measures like lights and alarms
• Fitting out the workshop with shelving, worktops and tool storage
• Equipping the workshop with tools and bike stands
• Furnishing a social, community and office space upstairs
• Building a kitchenette
• Installing an indoor bike washing area
• Bike storage
• Painting and decorating the space
• Paying the rent, insurance and bills
• Hiring a part-time volunteer co-ordinator to foster the team (you can apply on our website now!)
• Hiring a part-time project co-ordinator to make sure we pay the bills on time (you can apply on our website now!)
• Other associated costs of running our project

If you want to see a more cycle-friendly Sheffield and help build a space for all to learn about bike maintenance for years to come please donate generously!

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THE REWARDS

We have a range of rewards which you can check out on the right-hand side. For photos of physical items please see below.

All donors are welcome to our grand opening on Saturday 21st September. There will be a space on our wall for all our donors to sign.

Please select the gift aid option at check out if you can! This allows us to claim 25% extra on your donation if you are a standard or higher rate tax payer. Your donation amount is calculated as the total value given minus the benefit value of the reward selected. You can see the benefit value of each reward here.

'King Street' by Pete Nolan

You can get a postcard, A4 print, tote bag or t-shirt with this illustration of our new home on King Street.

'Roll on' by Holly Mckenzie-Barnes

Get yourself a set of 3 stickers of this pesky little gang. Also available as postcards.

'The Joy of a Bike' by Emma Stevenson @edogdraws

You can get a postcard, A4 print, tote bag or t-shirt with 'The Joy of a Bike' illustrated by Emma Stevenson, especially for SCBP. While the postcard and A4 print are available in either colour or black & white, the tote bags and t-shirts are only available in B&W.

'Bundle up & Ride' by Emma Stevenson @edogdraws

You can get an SCBP badge to wear with pride with Emma's illustration 'Bundle up & Ride'.

T-shirts and tote bags

You can get 'The Joy of a Bike' - Black & White or 'King Street' on a t-shirt or tote bag. The T-shirt can be white, yellow or black in a men's/unisex fit (S-XXL*) or women's fit (XS-XL*). On a black T-shirt you can only get the 'King Street' illustration.

You can check out the size chart for t-shirts here.

*Please get in touch with us - [email protected], if you need a size outside of this range.

'The Cyclist' by Sheffield artist James Green @jamesgreenprintworks

Rare Yorkshire colours version linocut poster-print of ‘The Cyclist’ by artist/printmaker James Green.

A signed copy of Potholes and Pavements: A Bumpy Ride on Britain’s National Cycle Network (paperback) by Laura Laker

What if we were less reliant on our cars? What if there were safe cycling paths to take us places instead? What if those paths led to the next town, the next village and the countryside beyond?

This was the dream of a group of Bristolian idealists in the 1970s when they founded Britain's National Cycle Network, which now runs to nearly 13,000 miles across the country. Journalist Laura Laker sets off on an odyssey around the UK to see where the NCN began, and where it is now.

Thanks

A massive thank you to Emma Stevenson for creating such beautiful art for us. Thanks to our own Pete Nolan for illustrating our new home on King Street and Holly Mckenzie-Barnes for her whimsical sticker creations. Thanks to Ed Clancy for offering his time as a reward. Thanks also to Laura Laker for donating several signed copies of her book, and James Green for donating his artwork. Thanks to Bike & Boot Hotel for donating a night at their hotel. Thank you to our volunteers: Johnny for offering his musical talents and Rupert for his mechanical skills as rewards.

Thank you to Art Catalyst for hosting us at Soft Ground for the past year and a half, you've been amazing!

We are also hugely grateful to Sam Taylor for his hard work filming and editing our swanky video and making us look so good. Thanks also to Mango Rescue Team who kindly let us use their groovy music in the background.