Good Cycles: Using Bikes For Social And Environmental Good

Helping the Disadvantaged Youth with Bike Education and Employment

Discuss about the Social And Environmental Good Two Wheels Of Ethics.

Good Cycles is an innovative social enterprise that use bike as an instrument in order to educate, find employment and also for the purpose of empowering the disadvantaged youth. 100% of the revenue earned by the company goes towards the support of the social programs and community initiatives.

Luke Wright and Loretta are two of the founders of Good Cycles and the idea of incorporating the company emerged one fine morning when they were having a cup of tea. The idea was developed with lot of meetings that was conducted between the two and the concept that came out has helped them to find an organization that runs as a nonprofit organization in Melbourne City in Australia.

Loretta Curtin who is the joint founder of Good Cycles along with Luke Wright has stated that the idea came into existence while she was living in London and the idea has originated when she was having a cup of tea in Northcote lounge room and Northcote Lounge Room allows their bikers to service their bikes with the help of a mobile mechanic team and that visits offices and workplaces in the city so that they are able to fix up the gears and breaks.

Good Cycles as per many of the cycling lovers offers services that saves the time of the customers and also help them by providing practical services. There are plenty of services that are provided by the organization that include servicing the bikes while the people are at universities, offices and also during the events. Moreover, there are mechanics of the company who roams around the cities in their cargo bikes which carries tools for repairing the bicycles on the go and also workshops are held for repairing the bikes. Furthermore, there are service centers and Dockland bike shops from where the people can buy new bicycles and use it for their purpose. The cyclists are also taught that how significant it is to maintain their bikes. In addition to this, the company also provides community based programs in partnership with the organizations and government.

But, behind all this, the main motive behind finding the company is to lend a helping hand towards the community that is suffering form getting jobs in other organizations or are suffering from homelessness. Training are provided to the employees and also they are also offered with support directly to the individuals who have suffered from domestic violence, or are suffering from disability, homelessness and various other conditions that can lead an individual to helplessness or distress. The main motive behind the foundation of the company is to tackle the issues which are related to the environment and the society which are believed as two wheels of the cycle.

Services Provided by Good Cycles

It is believed by the company that people can help this community who are employed in the organization by just getting their bike serviced in their Docklands Bike Center.

There are three use of the revenue that is earned by the company and the revenue goes to maintain the existing programs of the organization, to increase the capacity of the organization and the scope as well as support the individuals who participate in their social program. The foremost objective with which the organization exists in the environment is helping out the vulnerable group of individuals and the group with which they works are isolated as well as disengaged adults and youths, people who are unemployed for a long period of time, people those whose educational qualifications are low, people whose housings are unstable in nature as well as the individuals with health issues mental in nature.

There are a variety of programs that has been undertaken by the organization and some of the programs include engagement program. This program helps in connecting the brand “Good Cycles” with that of the vulnerable community that is present in Melbourne. This provide the company to establish a relation with that of vulnerable community and this helps in decreasing the social isolation among the employed persons when they comes in contact with others. Moreover, this also helps in community engagement and the company works as a role model in the life of the participants. The engagement program is conducted with the help of workplace programs and vocational training process that helps in maintaining the connection and closes the gaps between the vulnerable communication and Good Cycles. This is a way the social enterprise is working towards the betterment of the individuals and focusing upon the development of the community in Melbourne working along with the vulnerable community.

There is also pedal empowerment course that is undertaken by the employees of the organization and this is also a vocational training course that is provided by the organization to their employees for the development of their employability skills as well as mechanical skills. The participants of this course is taken for a tour through the introductory course of mechanic bicycle repairing and also there are various skills which are related to employability are taught to the participants and some of them are resume making, rights provided to the employees in the workplace, techniques of interview as well as how to increase the connection in the industry to increase the possibility of getting good jobs. Moreover, practical experience related to bicycle repairing opportunity is also provided to the participants when they volunteer at the Community Bike Shades of the organization.

The Significance of Maintaining Bikes

When the PEP program or Pedal Empowerment Program is finished by the participants, they have the options to move on to Supported Employment Program where the participants are provided with an immediate joining in repairing course for bicycles and van also receive personalized services for preparing their resume and skills related to the interview from a HR consultant. Further a budget is set up by the financial planner in this supported employment program.

There is also Work Experience Program and this can also be participated after taking the course at PEP and in this program, the participants are directly invited to take part in working at Good Cycles for 3-6 months and the participants went through a design that is structured in nature which prepares the participants for gaining a long term employment in this particular industry.

Next is a drop in style program that is also a part of the social work that is provided by Good Cycles and the name of the program is Community Bike Shades. The activities that are taught in this program are to teach the learners regarding how to ride a bicycle and also how to fix it. Currently, Good Cycles is hosting North Melbourne Community Centre which is a part of Community Bike Shades.

There are apprenticeship teams under the organization and they work for 18 months under the organization for the completion of apprenticeship course in the bike industry. Kim Murray is among one of the first apprentice that was hired by the company and in her interview, she has said that:

“I've been working on bikes on an amateur basis for a long time and about half way through last year I started volunteering at CERES (Community Environment Park) bike shed with a view to making it into the industry and eventually this opportunity came up and it was pretty much exactly what I was after”

He has also added that,

“I’d been unemployed for more than a year and Luke and Loretta were keen to give me a chance to get back into the workforce so it was most welcome. Now instead of doing grunt work, I'm getting up in the morning to do what I love.”

Another apprentice from Footscray who is of the age of 38 years has said that Good Cycles is doing one of the best job in their business and that is to provide the people with mobility and freedom which is affecting the existence of people in a positive way. He has also added that the charitable aspect of Good Cycles has also appealed him, which is to provide help to the disadvantaged youth and adults from the society and that, Good Cycles should really be considered as one of the top social enterprise in this particular industry.

Community-based Programs and Partnerships

Mr. Wright believes that pedal cycling is providing the people with one of the best way to avoid congestion during the traffic in Melbourne City. During the first year of the company when Mr. Wright started the company with two employees, he expected that not much employees join the organization but he ended up with 14 employees at the end of the first year which was a good sign for the company. Brisbane and Sydney Council have also showcased their interest towards replicating the mode of the company.

As stated by Mr. Wright, there are more than 15,000 cyclists that along with their cycles comes to Melbourne City for work purposes but they do not really care for repairing their cycles in the short run which is required to be done due to the fact that it can cause a lot more money for them in the long run. Moreover, he also believes that it is also unsafe to travel around in an un-serviced bicycle around the city. Mr. Wright has also extended his statement saying that for the appreciates of the organization it will not just be only an employment opportunity and training but also individuals servicing bicycles during their work will also help their employees to upgrade their skills related to bicycle repair.

There is also a women’s only program that has been introduced by the company which provides an opportunity to a women so that they can bond with another women and learn how to bicycle in an environment that is safe and this program is conducted once in every month. Irrespective of age, riding ability and background of women, this course is offered to women that can develop women sense to ride in a safe environment.

There is one more course that is offered to the school children that are disengaged in nature and in this course, the school children from Melbourne is offered with teaching related to fixing their own bicycles and Good Cycles is working with five schools that the moment which is present in the greater Melbourne region.

Funding Network has also funded the organization and this has helped in making the organization more focused towards making the life of the disadvantaged youths and adults better in Melbourne City. Furthermore, there were 114 disadvantaged youths and adults that have taken education from Good Cycles and have also participated in employment pathway programs. Among them 8 new people has got employment in the organization and it has helped the organization to double their revenue of which, the full money was donated towards the charity and used for the purpose of development of the community. Furthermore, being a social enterprise, they have delivered community support that includes the seekers for the asylum, people from community that are young and so on. Good Cycles is also helping in uplifting the conditions of girl and women in the society and residents of public housing and also the schools that work with students form low social and economic background. This type of social enterprise in the bicycling industry is very low in number and with the help of innovation and implementation of new programs in the company, Good Cycles; we believe has a bright sustainable future.

References:

www.goodcycles.org. (2018). Our Story. [online] Available at: https://www.goodcycles.org/about-melbourne-bike-repair/our-story/ [Accessed 11 May 2018].

www.theage.com.au. (2018). Mobile mechanics a good cycle story. [online] Available at: https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/mobile-mechanics-a-good-cycle-story-20130508-2j73z.html [Accessed 11 May 2018].

www.thefundingnetwork.com.au. (2018). Good Cycles. [online] Available at: https://www.thefundingnetwork.com.au/impact/tfn-alumni/previously-funded-organisations/good-cycles/ [Accessed 11 May 2018].