A one-stop-shop designed to get more students on their bikes is celebrating a successful first year.
The Bradford Bike Hub runs from Bradford College’s Garden Mills building on Westholme Street.
Although it is open to all, it is mainly aimed at getting staff and students at the college and the University of Bradford cycling to classes and lectures.
It runs a bike hire scheme, sells refurbished second-hand bicycles, offers training on cycle safety and bike maintenance and organises bike rides. The project also aims to encourage people to walk more often.
Over the past year, the hub has sold more than 150 second-hand bikes refurbished by Cycle-Re-Cycle, which can be bought for as little as £25. It has also run more than 100 cycling or walking-themed events and volunteers have donated more than 1,000 hours to the scheme.
The Bradford Bike Hub is run by the Learning to Travel Differently Project, a partnership made up of transport charity Sustrans, Bradford Council, the University of Bradford, Bradford College and Cycle-re-Cycle.
It is funded by the Department for Transport’s Local Sustainable Transport Fund.
Jennie O’Hara, Sustrans project officer, said: “This project aims to inspire people to travel more actively to benefit their health, wallet and the environment. We aim to minimise the barriers to travelling actively, by providing as much guidance, encouragement and support as possible. It is great to see the project work and to see more staff and students enjoying the benefits of active and sustainable travel.”
She said they didn’t yet have official figures on the number of people who had taken up cycling since the bike hub opened, but there was evidence to suggested more people were doing so.
The hub has just celebrated its first birthday with a party, where the Lord Mayor of Bradford, Councillor Khadim Hussain, was guest of honour.
Visitors also got to see a pedal-powered smoothie-maker and take part in a repairs workshop.
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