Our mission is not to be bike shop, but to provide a community resource that actively improves the life chances of young people by engaging students through bicycle mechanics to provide them with valuable skills.
It is also to support safe mobility in the local community through free* bicycle repairs, learning workshops, and low-cost bicycle sales.
The Canterbury Bike Project was born out of Steve Sproston’s dedicated commitment to his students. As a college tutor, he developed a project to engage with students and provide them with a valued skill to improve their life chances, whilst also helping the local community see the many benefits of cycling. The project started in 2017.
The objective then, which remains today, was to support students to engage with education. Students who were disengaged with mainstream schooling were invited to join a class where Steve taught them to build a bicycle. One member of that group went on to ride the bike that they built in the London to Brighton bike ride.
Seeing the impact this approach had on the students was the beginning of The Canterbury Bike Project. Thanks to Steve and the support he receives from The Canterbury Academy, our goals today remain the same, to improve the life chances of young people, whilst helping the local community.
In order to reach out to the whole community our time table is as follows. During the day we actively seek to work with as many young people as possible through local schools in the district. In the afternoon we hold different bicycle maintenance workshop sessions which are, and will always be, free to attend – check out our workshop/events page for more details.
We also have sessions tailored for school/college students in our Young Persons Programme, we are City & Guilds certified, Park Tool registered, as well as being a partner of The Duke of Edinburgh Award.
Check back soon for more detailed information on our vision, values, goals, objectives, and developments such as local community rides.
“A massive shout out to Steve who was incredible with our pupils, his level of understanding of their differing needs was exceptional which enabled him to get the most out of each pupil keeping them fully engaged throughout the seven week course! Once again I am so very grateful for the opportunity you gave us, and thank you both very very much.”
Orchard School, Canterbury
“As part of the transport innovations team at KCC where we support and encourage cycling, we couldn’t be more proud of the work Steve is doing with the community and young people. Every day through his passion he is changing lives and helping people fall in love with cycling. I can’t wait to see more of the project unfold and watch as the community benefits from his love of cycling and helping others.”
Lindsay Reynolds, KCC
Please fill out the form below to send us an email and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Address
The Riverside Youth Project, Kingsmead Rd
Canterbury, Kent, CT2 7PH
Phone
01227 286162
Email
steve@thecanterburybikeproject.co.uk
