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man fixing a bicycle's flat tire

Building bikes at Bollo Brook

Young people have been building bikes with parts provided by Acton Police Station in a scheme crowdfunded by residents of Ealing.

Members of Bollo Brook Youth and Community Centre took part in a six-week course and learned how to fix a bike. The bikes were broken and unclaimed from the local police station and the young people got the chance to not only learn how to fix the bikes from local professionals, but also got to keep the bicycles when they finished the course.

The scheme was organised by the local police officers who worked with Bike Hub, a not-for-profit operation, which aims to work in challenging areas such as with young offenders and equip them with bike skills so they can move into employment.

Building bikes – and positive links
PC Loveday lending a hand
PC Loveday lending a hand

Central Acton Safer Neighbourhood police team crowdfunded more than £500 to pay for the spare bike parts and volunteers’ time. Officer PC Dave Loveday said: “The build a bike scheme is great because it gives us an opportunity to build positive links with kids from difficult and chaotic backgrounds who have been excluded from school and traditionally do not have a positive relationship with the police. On top of that they also gain skills that they can use to gain employment and they learn the importance of hard work with the reward of a bicycle at the end of the programme.

“We are now planning to start a three-week projects where we use local volunteers to help teach the youngsters how to start with a broken phone, take them apart, identify faults, and then repair them. We have local businessmen ready to teach, but we need money to purchase the phones and parts, so if there is anyone willing to donate we would really appreciate it.”

Residents that would like to support this project can do so by making a donation to the build a phone programme crowdfunding page.

Situated in the heart of Acton, Bollo Brook Youth and Community Centre is a place for young adults to hang out with friends, take part in fun activities, including music productions, arts and crafts, sports, cooking and gardening, and get general support and advice. There is plenty of information available about the Bollo Brook Centre including information on events and opening times on the website.

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