Common Wheel

Common Wheel aims to support people with mental illness and dementia to lead a meaningful and satisfying life. Their mission is to improve mental wellbeing, increase skills and reduce isolation. They use bikes to help them achieve this. They were the first bike project in Glasgow. They concentrate on sustainable bikes. There are a number of elements to their bike project.

• The main activity is their 'Build your own Bike' course. This is a ten-week long course consisting of half-day, weekly sessions. Their experienced Bike Engineers support participants in building a new bike from an old frame and a mixture of new and recycled parts. Participants can take their bike away and keep it after they have completed the course. They run approximately 24 'Build your own Bike' courses per year from their two bike workshops in Maryhill and Bridgeton.
• They run weekly bike recycling sessions for their long-term volunteers. This group have completed the 'Build your own Bike' course and attend a weekly session designed to allow them to continue to improve their bike engineering skills while supporting Common Wheel's Bike Engineers to provide a 'bike sale and repair' service for the general public.
• They run weekly sessions for people with 'high support needs' living in the community. This is based at their Bridgeton bike workshop. This group look at different parts of a bike each week and learn how it works, how to take it apart, clean it and rebuild it.
• They accept donations of good quality used bikes.
• They can repair your bike, service it or give it a complete makeover.

Visit Uncommon Wheel, unofficial bike webpages written by Common Wheel's Bike Engineer Neil.