Want a bike? - Oxfordshire Waste Partnership

Issue 7
September 2013
Want a bike?
There is now a selection of our bicycles available to purchase
at the Sobell Charity Megastore next to our workshops at
Station Approach. All checked, serviced and refurbished and
ready to ride. If we are open when you purchase it, pop in and
we’ll adjust the seat to the right height for you.
We add a few each week, as they become ready (although
people keep buying them so hurry if you want a good choice!)
Bicester Green
Opening Hours
Monday, Wednesday and
Friday
10 til 5
Other times by arrangement.
Cycle loan scheme
Would you like to borrow one of these bikes?
In conjunction with:
If you are not sure if cycling is for you, there is one more
chance this year to borrow a bike for free for four weeks.
Various child trailers, tag-alongs and seats also available.
Book in advance and collect on Monday 30 September, as part
of the Cycle for Bicester loan scheme: see
http://www.ecobicester.org.uk/cms/node/92
and finally on the bicycle theme, we enjoyed a fine day at
Pingle Field as part of Bicester Bike and Family Fun Day.
Opening hours
Monday-Friday
9:30-4:30
Saturday
10-4
First Sunday of each month:
Half-price furniture sale
9-12
Busy summer
It’s been busy here since our launch in June: a lot more is
involved in starting up a new enterprise than we had imagined !
We have about a dozen regular volunteers in our workshops,
fixing bikes, furniture and electrical appliances: but there’s
room for more if you would like to lend a hand. (We are about
to get some additional cycle workstands, and are looking at
installing a mezzanine storage area to free up more floor
space for the work).
We have also got our meeting room equipped with decent
seats, tables and a projector: so far it has been used for
training events (media-work and Love Food Hate Waste
campaigning) and meetings of Oxfordshire Waste Partnership
Projects Group, Green Deal, OCC Waste Dept (who also did a
two and a half hour session in the workshop repairing / repurposing and up cycling items as part of a waste hierarchy
exercise.), CDC Environmental Services, Bicester Bike Day
planning meetings, and Bicester Vision,
We also hosted a Langford Community Orchard fundraising
cake sale on the 24th July - they were raising money for the
purchase of Meadow Farm by BBOWT- and made a
connection with the National Citizen Service programme, who
brought teams of young people to volunteer with us and with
Sobell for a few hours. I’m sure we’ll see more of them in the
future.
This newsletter is a little late, which we could see happening
for the last few weeks, so we advertised for an unpaid intern to
help with publicity: and found two! Mina will focus on the
development of a new training course (DIY for women,
provisionally entitled ‘Drill Baby Drill’, to start next year) and
Tia will focus on our sales and marketing. (This leaves me still
doing the newsletter...)
Make a pledge to
keep Oxfordshire
top of the
recycling league!
Oxfordshire councils are
challenging residents to
make a pledge to recycle
one more thing in the
hope that the current
impressive recycling rate
of 60% can be improved
on even further.
In return for making a
pledge residents will be
entered into a prize draw
to be in with a chance of
winning an annual family
pass to Blenheim Palace.
Pledges can be made at
www.oxfordshirewaste.go
v.uk/recycle1morething
Autumn Evenings
We are planning a variety of evenings, every Tuesdays from
17 September to 3 December (with a break on 5 November for
bonfire night)
Makers and Fixers
Come and use our workshop and tools, to work on your own
project, or just learn and practise on ours! Skilled tutors and a
different focus each evening according to demand. (Potentially,
basic tool use, simple upholstery, decoupage, etc) Fix your
favourite chair, create a sculpture, or upcycle some piece
purchased next door from Sobell.
Fix your own Bike
In conjunction with Broken Spoke Bicycle Coop, two sessions
for cyclists to bring in and work on their own bikes, with expert
advice and support, and a properly equipped workshop. From
basic servicing for beginners to more advanced repairs.
Films & Discussions
Watch stimulating films and videos in a relaxed atmosphere,
with tea and coffee, and discuss/argue afterwards.
Autumn Evenings, every week from 17 September:
7 till 9.30pm
£5 per session (£3 concessions), plus charges for materials
/parts supplied.
Numbers limited so please book/pay in advance
Contact us for more details, or keep an eye on
www.facebook.com/BicesterGreen
A woman’s work is
never done!
Ladies get ready Ladies DIY classes are in
the process of being
organized.
Want to learn how to use a
cordless drill?
Or how to choose the right
drill bit to put up a shelf? Or
how to hand your own toilet
roll holder?
Get in touch if you are
interested
Emma@bicestergreen.org.u
k or call Emma
07591754787
Waste not…
We use more and more electrical items, and more and more of
them become surplus to our requirements.
Some can be passed on through freecycle, freegle or ebay, but
most become waste. Within Cherwell District, there is a pilot
household collection scheme for WEEE (Waste Electrical and
Electronic Equipment). Items collected as WEEE, or taken to
the tip at Ardley, are mechanically broken up, so that the
plastics and metals can be recycled for use in making new
products.
At Bicester Green we currently accept donations of portable
electrical appliances and in many cases can make them good
for re-use. We then safety-test them, and offer them for sale
through the Sobell Charity Mega-store next door.
The work is largely done by our team of volunteers drawn from
Bicester, the surrounding villages and Oxford.
Peter Myers regularly volunteers at Bicester Green,
contributing up to 20 hours a week. In the month he has been
volunteering Peter has already repaired and safety tested 78
items, as well as performing repairs and checks on our own
tools and equipment. This does not include items that are not
worth fixing, which go for recycling.
Peter says he is very happy volunteering at Bicester Green as
he is able to apply his problem-solving skills to fixing things,
something that he has always enjoyed. Additionally he enjoys
the social interaction with the other volunteers, staff, and
customers of Bicester Green and as he puts it “getting his brain
working” after having previously taken early retirement. Other
volunteers and staff also benefit from Peter sharing his skills,
experience and expanding knowledge, as we all ask each other
about the various items being repaired be it bike, furniture or
electrical, especially so when a particularly challenging problem
is encountered or new ideas are needed.
Volunteer
Bookkeeper
sought
Bicester Green is starting
to need proper
bookkeeping: we
currently have up to 20
transactions per month,
but about to grow rapidly.
Initially we need help
setting up more robust
systems than our present
spreadsheets. (We can
call on expert advice to
help with this).
Then probably a regular
three hours per week.
Increasing in future as
the enterprise grows.
Most of work can be done
from home, but deskspace & computer are
available at BG if you
prefer to work in a
friendly office during
school hours.
Preferably somebody
with some accounting/
accounting technician
training or experience,
but as a minimum, we
need somebody reliable,
methodical and
numerate, experienced
with Excel spreadsheets.