Common Wheel

common wheel screenshot

Earlier in the week I had the opportunity to hear a little bit of Radio 4’s All in the Mind programme.  They were featuring the Common Wheel as a finalist in the All In The Mind awards.  It was fascinating and I’ll tell you why….

Common Wheel are a charity in Glasgow, Scotland.  Outwardly they fix up bicycles and sell some of them, plus repair other people’s own bikes.  Go a little deeper and it is all about supporting local folk with their mental health.  Bringing life back into an old bicycle is a meaningful thing to do as it brings people into contact with other people and therefore reducing social isolation.

How it works….

People get referred to the Common Wheel.  There is then a ten week course where clients attend for half a day.  During that time they start with a donated bicycle frame and then it is built up.  The finished bicycle is theirs to ride away at the end.

I can well believe there is a theraputic aspect to working on a bicycle.  Cleaning, tinkering, tuning the gears are all good things to do where you can get much satisfaction from seeing the improvement.   There would be an enjoyable side to this as well – and this could be a tremendous tonic for anyone –  good company, some humour and fun are all good ingredients.

This reminds me of….

In the 1980s I was in my 20s, back from Africa and absolutely skint.  I earnt a living from this and that before I found my way into a bike shop in Gloucester.  Then one day a Social Worker came in and, to cut a long story short, offered me a job working with young lads who were at risk of being on the wrong side of the law.

My job was to do something similar to the Common Wheel.  The social services lads were all a bit chaotic and likely to get things wrong.  I remember being told how their problem solving skills weren’t too good.  This would show itself as frustration when things went wrong and would be inclined to simply bash something with a big hammer, instead of taking a more thoughtful approach.

I remember the lads thought building their own bikes was pretty cool once they’d got going.  They built “racers” and these were based on a fairly ordinary bike at the time (this would have been something like a Raleigh Pursuit or Equipe).  I remember showing them how to lace spokes through the hub and connecting them to the rim in the right hole.  Counting out ball bearings for the bottom bracket required some dexterity along with assembling the cups and axle.  It took some concentration and some patience but with some encouragement most of them succeeded.  Seeing them ride off on their very own bike was fantastic; talk about job satisfaction.  I remember one saying he only ever stole bikes and building one from scratch was the opposite extreme – and brilliant!

While I was there they used to share bits of their life with me; this is where the mentoring and social work stuff came in.  Sometimes they used to ask for advice on “what shall I do about my girlfriend…. I have to appear in Court and I’m worried…. which rugby team will win on Saturday?”.

I loved it, in fact this was my first step into rehabilitation and justice.

Nowadays….

As you know I quit my job in rehabilitation and justice in December; I’ve no regrets apart from leaving behind some fantastic colleagues.  So as I was driving along listening to the All in the Mind programme, I was almost day dreaming and thinking “I would love setting something like that up in Bedfordshire.  I know there would be such a demand because the needs are there”.  Networking and nurturing relationships is something I love doing and I’ve got some many great contacts as a result.  So when I eventually get to the stage of leaving my full time job with my local authority, I could well see myself doing something like this to keep me busy as I freewheel towards retirement and continuing afterwards.

In the meantime, take a look at the Common Wheel website.  They also use music in a similar way to building bikes.  You can’t help but admire their work.  Take a look at the You Tube video on their site – this explains things so nicely and it’s great hearing from one of their clients (this perspective is really important).