We were delighted that Will Norman wanted to find out more about how Community Cycleworks helps local residents on the Aylesbury estate.
Community Cycleworks have been helping local residents around the Aylesbury estate since 2012 running bike-fix workshops on repairing bikes, running bike club activities and teaching repair skills in schools.
Their aim is to make cycling more accessible to more people – showing that bike repairs and upkeep can be affordable and achievable. They are working hard to educate and enable local people about how they can make cycling part of their daily routine and, at a low cost, they are proving how more people can get on their bikes.
Director of Community Cycleworks, Stewart Vanns, got in touch with Will Noman, the Mayor of London’s walking and cycling commissioner, to tell them about what they were doing. Will was keen to come down and see for himself. On Friday 9 August he came along to the regular afternoon bike-fix workshop.
The day was packed with visitors, many of them there for the first time to see how the Community Cycleworks team could help them get their bikes back in working order. Will had a fantastic time talking to them all about what they thought about cycling around London and how he could help make improvements for them.
The bike-fix workshops open every Friday and Saturday and are a part of Southwark Councils Streets for People Strategy which is working to improve the air that we breathe.
Will became the first walking and cycling commissioner back in 2016 leading work to make the capital’s streets safer for walking and cycling. As part of this he has enabled thousands on Londoners to choose greener, cleaner and healthier ways of travelling around the city.
On the day Will Norman said: “It’s fantastic to see how many local residents are benefiting from what Stewart and his team are doing here. You can see the real impact they’re making in the community and helping more people get on their bikes and finding ways to make it affordable.”
Stewart said: “Having support from people like Will is so important to help us reach more people who could benefit from our services. We’re always looking to expand what we’re doing to reach more people – and achieving our aim of a healthier, cleaner, and more sustainable world in which all young people have access to a bike, the skills to repair it and the ability to ride.”
We’re so proud to support Community Cycleworks on the Aylesbury estate and everything the team does to help local residents.
