The Bike Project offers free online maintenance classes to NHS staff

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In response to Covid-19 The Bike Project have now set up their ‘Dr Bike’ virtual bike maintenance sessions.

The public can now book in an online session with one of their pro mechanics who can help with basic repair and maintenance enquiries, such as fixing a puncture, putting air in tyres, etc, to ensure that the public can maintain safety while using their bikes to exercise, access vital supplies such as food and medication and to help those that still need to travel to work to avoid public transport during the outbreak.

The Bike Project are also offering a free ‘Dr Bike’ online session to all NHS staff during this time. By emailing [email protected] with a picture of their NHS staff ID, front-line workers will be sent a voucher code for a complementary session.

The Bike Project, have also launched an Emergency Appeal to continue to get bikes out to beneficiaries. Instead of asking refugees to risk their health on public transport by travelling to the workshop to pick up bikes as usual, The Bike Project are providing a delivery service, while complying with government guidelines, to ensure beneficiaries can still get their bikes.

Many refugees and asylum seekers are living in the UK alone, without any family and with very little money or means of support. A bike is more essential to them now than ever before. Many will need to travel further afield during this time to access food banks that are still open or that have stock.

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You don’t need to even leave the house to get your bike sorted

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Jem Stein, Founder and CEO of The Bike Project said “The Bike Project have seen a huge increase in sales over the past few weeks and March has already smashed our previous record for total sales in one month. We at The Bike Project realise how crucial bikes can be for everyone during this difficult time. Cycling can help you to exercise, get access to vital supplies such as food and medication, and to avoid public transport if you still need to work.

From Wednesday 25 March, we are launching Virtual Dr Bike sessions to help teach people basic bike maintenance and repair to ensure your bikes are kept in tip-top condition during the outbreak. These will be one-to-one sessions delivered by our team of experienced mechanics. We are offering free Virtual Dr Bike sessions to all NHS staff to keep our fantastic front-line workers safe and mobile during this time.

In addition, The Bike Project have launched an Emergency Appeal to ensure we can continue to provide bikes to our beneficiaries during the coronavirus outbreak. Refugees and asylum seekers are among the most hurt by the closure of charity and community services and need bikes more than ever before.  Many will now need to travel further afield to access food banks that are still open or have stock.

We want to ensure we can continue to deliver bikes to them during this time, rather them risking their health by picking them up from the workshop as usual.  A one-off £10 donation is enough to hire a van and driver to deliver a desperately-needed bike to a refugee in London. While a one-off £100 donation pays for the labour we need, to completely restore a bike to get it out to a refugee”.

Katie, an ICU Nurse for a London NHS Hospital said “I’m using my bike which I bought from The Bike Project a few years back to currently travel to work. I would recommend that if people have to travel to their place of work and can’t work from home currently to consider cycling if possible. Particularly in London while public transport is currently limited.

Alongside walking, cycling is recommended over public transport, to adhere to the current social distancing guidelines. It is also so good for both your physical and mental health. It’s really helping me to unwind and process the day’s events at the moment”.

Online Dr Bike sessions can be booked here.
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