Introduction
Recycle! and make safe..
Gremlins was developed as a response to local needs, operating from a garden in Limeside Oldham, at the request of residents. Repairs and maintenance were carried out on the bicycles of local children and almost all of the bikes seen in those first few months were unsafe to ride for a variety of reasons.
The children soon started to bring us their old bicycles in order to be used as spares to keep their, and the other childrens bicycles safe to use. As part of an initiative to impart the lost skills of bicycle maintenance these donations were used to demonstrate maintenance and rebuilds to the users of the service. Primarily the ability to determine if their own bike was safe was the skill we were trying to transfer. This was and still is hugely successful
Interest has grown since the Spring of 2004 and Gremlins is now a Not-for-Profit Social Enterprise which has set up a training room to expand on the range of certificated and non-certificated training routes. Proficiency Training has also become a mainstay of our work.
We still accept donations of unwanted and unused bicycles and these are rebuilt by staff and volunteers. Once inspected and passed these are either given away, loaned or sold to help cover our running costs.
We have found a definite progression in the requests we receive for activities and services, once the bicycles used by children in a community are safe the children want to undertake rides further afield and the parents/carers ask for them to be trained to do so safely. Gremlins has trained its volunteers and staff to deliver a wide range of training, both workshop and outdoors based, and cycle based activities. All our staff and volunteers are fully insured and carry enhanced CRB checks.
We have found that tailored packages often represent best value for money for our clients and maximum efficiency in terms of Gremlins effectiveness and outcomes. Because of this we like to visit and construct a series of sessions to best address individual or group needs, this initial consultation is usually free,
For further information on the project and up-to-date prices please contact us. Services for Voluntary Organisations may be subsidized or even free of charge in some cases. Assistance can also be provided for grant applications to the various funders currently interested in helping groups like yourselves.
