Bike Me Up Niagara’s Partnerships Make the Difference.
Bike Me Up Niagara is getting a reputation…
Thankfully it is a good one, and it is possible due to the relationships Wayne has been creating with the biking community. Liberty Bicycles in St. Catharines, Bikes for Farmworkers (BFF) in NOTL, Broken Spoke in Port Colborne, Front Row Sports in Thorold and Bike Fit in St. Catharines have provided so much to their community.
When Start Me Up Niagara began, the idea was to get people working. Once that was established it became apparent there were many other needs that stopped people from working, and transportation was a big part of that. People in lower income positions, or in their first job cannot afford a car, they can’t afford a bus pass, or the transit doesn’t go where they need to go. With that, the Bike Me Up Niagara program was born.
Initially the BMU team met with Kurt at Liberty, Mark at Bikes for Farmworkers and Aubrey at the Broken Spoke at the Port Colborne high school to review their operations and initiate a list of parts and supplies needed to start our shop back in 2018.
Scott and Dave at Front Row sports have come on board recently and we have purchased some new parts at very favorable prices. Liberty Bicycles has offered pricing consideration and has maintained that practice for us going into our seventh year!
BFF and Broken Spoke have regularly supplied bikes when needed and we have often been able to reciprocate when we have an overabundance of bikes. Kurk from Liberty has recently started donating bikes that are left with him at his shop as well.
While BMU doesn’t get a lot of kids in the shop, we try to keep a small selection of kid’s bikes, which are free and then send the rest to the Broken Spoke. The program is run out of the Port Colborne High School and started back in 2015. The idea behind the program was to engage the students in understanding the benefits of refurbishing bikes as transportation as well as recreation for those who cannot afford one, and need to get to school or work without a car.
The students will recondition the bikes so there are quality bikes available for events like the Mayors basketball tourney at Manchester and more recently for the Carousel Players event. (Link event here)
We have recently expanded our hours and services to include the general public for a $60.00 basic tune up which is only offered on Monday and Friday mornings. This is a small social enterprise within our existing model, it helps to repay some of the volunteer hours with a small stipend and so far it has proven to be very successful. We are helping people maintain “everyday” bikes that aren’t a good fit for the higher-end bike shops while putting some extra money into our program. It’s been so successful that Aubrey at the Broken Spoke is using our model to raise funds for his program as well.
This little bicycle community does not just offer support, we have developed an enviable and enjoyable synergy that really makes it a pleasure to do business together. (Wayne Schmidt-Bike Me Up Niagara Co-ordinator)
