Welcome to the Bicycle Barge project
Thank you for your interest. Now you can play an important part to help me make this project come to life. We really want to get this project running in the new year.
I have come to you, the crowd funding community, to create awareness to this project and to raise the final necessary funds to float this boat and get it fully operational.
Project Aim
We are looking to raise £10,000. This will be match funded to help complete the project unless we meet our stretch funding target of £15,000. This is an all or nothing Crowdfunder campaign which means if the £10,000 target is not met, a sharp pin pricks my dream bubble, the project goes no further, and not a penny gets handed over. The end.
Crowd funding is a far more human way of building capital from a community of generous supporters rather than putting on a suit and going to the bank. After all, the Bicycle Barge is there to serve real people and be a social place where you can cycle to and get your bike tweaked.So without further ado
Put simply, the Bicycle Barge will be a floating bicycle workshop operating from a canal boat. An ex-British Waterways work boat to be precise. It is more like a floating metal shed with a large front hold at the moment.
At present it is a basic boat in need of a revamp! It needs to be stripped back to the metal, parts to be fabricated and the whole lot given a fresh paint job before being decked out as a workshop and ready to do business.To look something like this..
It is to be a bright, fabulous beacon that attracts your eye.A moving monument celebrating cyclingand something a little bit different and a lot of fun.A large (relative) open work area and a secure work cabin is all that is required to operate a compact and bijou bike service operation.
You might think that this may sound a bit odd, associating bicycles with boats but hear me out, this makes perfect sense! For starters I am obsessed with bicycles in all forms and cycling of all forms. Secondly I live on a boat (I love boats too) and have been living on the canal within the boundaries of London for the past 4 years. There are over 100 miles of towpath (the path that runs along canals and navigation rivers) in Greater London. All of which is very popular for recreational users and commuters; dog walkers, joggers, cyclists and wanderers. The busiest stretches of the central London towpaths can have around 1000 people per hour in the morning* half of which are cycling. [*approximate numbers taken from the Canal and River Trust towpath rangers 2013]
The Bicycle Barge will navigate across London along the Grand Union canal which dissects Central London from West to East and a bit up and down, and along too. Operating in Uxbridge, Slough, Brentford, Southall, Greenford, Perivale, Alperton, Harlesdon, Wilesden Junction, Kensal Green, Ladbroke Grove, Little Venice, Paddington, Camden, Primrose Hill, Angel Islington, Kings Cross, Broadway Market, Victoria Park, Hackney Wick, Limehouse, Bow, Homerton, Old Ford, Clapton, Leighton, Tottenham and beyond!
It will stay a maximum of 1 week in the busy central london stops and no shorter than 2 days before moving on. But don't worry, it won't move far to the next mooring.
You can keep up with the Bicycle Barge's whereabouts by looking at the website, twitter, facebook, instagram and tumblr feeds. We will be developing an app so that you are only one click away! Easy.
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By being mobile we hope to promote our services to a larger community of cyclists who live by or use the canal and its towpaths. By not being a bricks and mortar, stationary workshop means we have minimal over heads also, which means great savings but we do have the big compromise of minimal space.
The Bicycle Barge will offer a drop in service for those on the hoof and only requiring minor fixes like brakes and gears adjustments. The main business will be booked in services with an optional collect and return service for those who may require it.The Bicycle Barge will also offer a more hands on approach and run sessions for you to come in and learn how to service your own bike; from full bike builds to replacing and adjusting brake pads.A full list of the services and prices are available on the website www.bicyclebarge.comA regular update of its whereabouts will be posted on all the social media channels; Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+ and tumblr. A news feed on the website will also keep customers, friends and followers up to date on our geographical coordinates (as well as keeping everyone well informed on offers and booking availability).
This is where you can make all the difference. Any reward bought goes towards the all important target of £10,000 which will make this project go live. To add extra pressure, if the target isn't met then the project doesn't happen!
You can buy more than one award. Give them as a present. Buy them for the whole family, your lover, your neighbour or that person at work you have the hots for? Whatever and for whoever it is for, and however much it is for, you are doing a really, really good thing and I thank you enormously. Humanity WILL be improved.
This is what you can get (remember you can get more than one - I probably mentioned that already) :-
£10
You get a high five, a float keyring, a sticker and listed on our website and on the boat as a friend and supporter.
£15
Gets you a Bicycle Barge Mug, a Sticker, a high five AND your name listed on our website and on the boat as a friend and supporter
£15
You will receive a bicycle horn and a 'BICYCLE BARGE' gave me the horn sticker as well as a high five and a mention for being a supporter
£20
Gets you a special sticker that gives you 10% off all services done on the bicycle it is stuck on, a complimentary high five AND your name listed on our website and on the boat as a friend and supporter
£25
Gets you a special float keyring that gives you 20% off all servicing, a sticker,a high five, your name listed on our website and on the boat as a friend and supporter
£40