Earl of Wessex Meets Young Trainees And Staff To Hear About The Successful Guildford Bike Project

Published on: 27 Jun, 2018
Updated on: 27 Jun, 2018

The Guildford Bike Project welcomed the Earl of Wessex on Monday (June 25) who toured its premises meeting staff, trustees and the young people who receive free skills training there.

The Earl of Wessex is presented to staff from Surrey Lifelong Learning Partnership and the Guildford Bike Project. Chairman Derek Pollard is seen centre facing.

It was probably the first time Guildford Borough Council’s depot in Woking Road, where the Bike Project is based, has received a royal visit.

Prince Edward was accompanied by the Lord Lieutenant of Surrey, Michael More-Molyneux, for the visit, and had earlier visited Oakleaf in Walnut Tree Close, also a social enterprise, that supports people who suffer from mental health.

Prince Edward is presented to Bike Project co-ordinator John Thurlow, with SLLP CEO Kevin Delf (centre).

At the Guildford Bike Project, run by the Surrey Lifelong Learning Partnership (SLLP), the earl saw the work that is done there and spoke to a number of the trainees, SLLP staff and others from support groups and organisations.

Prince Edward meets one of the trainees.

The Bike Project collects donated unwanted cycles from the public and other organisations and provides free skills, credited training and work experience for local jobseekers and young people to refurbish them. Good quality second-hand bikes are then sold to the local community at an affordable price, with the income helping to sustain the project.

It was originally established with support of volunteers and Guildford Borough Council together with support from the Safer Guildford Partnership and Surrey County Council. More recently it has also been established in Walton-on-Thames.

Guildford Bike Project supervisor Jim Philpott (left) gives Prince Edward a tour inside the workshop.

Over the six years the project has been running 114 volunteers have supported the project, 99 clients have received work experience, 118 people have been trained in cycle mechanics, 17 young people have completed restorative justice sessions, 11 have completed Duke of Edinburgh volunteer programmes, 20 Year 10 pupils have been trained in cycle mechanics, and alternative learning opportunities have been provided to three excluded Year 10 pupils.

A total of 106 people have received an accredited City & Guilds or EAL cycle mechanics qualification. Of these, 37 have achieved a Level 2 qualification. 58 have gone on to paid work. More than 30 volunteers or trainees are engaged in training or work on a weekly basis.

More than 9,000 bikes have been donated to the project, it has recycled in excess of 20 tonnes of metal. Annual sales of bikes are around £60,000.

The chairman of SLLP, Derek Pollard, said: “The Bike Project is informed because it is real. These are young people who have been excluded from school and generally come from a disadvantaged background.

“To meet a member of the royal family is a life-changing experience for them and I think they have gone away inspired. And the people who have been here today have been inspired by the way the young people here are turning around these bikes and making them available to the community, including refugees who have no other form of transport.”

Its chief executive, Kevin Delf, said: “I am very please, not just because the weather was great, but because it has been a great boost to the project and everyone concerned with it.”

One of the trainees receiving his City & Guilds certificate.

The co-ordinator of the Guildford Bike Project, John Thurlow, added: “The future of this is progressing to higher levels of cycle mechanics in terms of training young people.

“We have recently received funding from the Community Foundation for Surrey and Guildford Philanthropy to build a new workshop. It will be equipped with the specialist tools so we can offer Level 3 cycle mechanics. This is a big step up as it includes servicing hydraulic brakes, full suspension, electronic gears and advanced wheel building.

“The Level 3 diploma is in effect an A-level. It will probably be the only chance some of these young people, who have completed Levels 1 and 2, will have to do this, and their parents will be so proud of them.”

The earl is presented to members of groups and organisations who work with the Guildford Bike Project, including Carol Dunnett, the chief officer of Voluntary Action South West Surrey, pictured far left.

The earl also presented City & Guilds certificates to a number of qualified trainees, unveiled a plaque to commemorate his visit and cut a special cake.

The commemorative plaque is unveiled.

Also in attendance from Guildford Borough Council was the deputy Mayor of Guildford, Richard Billington, and managing director James Whiteman.

Mr Whiteman said that the council is pleased to support the Bike Project with its workshop at the Woking Road depot and the partnership that exists between them.

And cutting the cake!

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