Bicycle workshop

I work at homelessness charity Crisis at 66 Commercial Street - sure loads of you know where that is judging by the number of unigears i see flying by on my fag breaks...

Well there's a bicycle workshop we run which is on from 2 - 5 every thursday in the basement workshop. Have just come back from it today and it's a good laugh. It's mainly aimed at homeless people, but the charity's all about integration so anyone's welcome to come in off the street and get involved (the only restriction is if there's enough space/stands). Workshopees help one another through their various bike problems, and there are stands and a (slightly patchy) selection of tools etc. Fixed gears are often wheeled in and tinkered with.

If you don't fancy coming along to work on your bike but have some spare bike stuff that is still usable and want to donate that's always welcome. All I would say is if you're there and you're not homeless then use the tools but pay for and bring along your own parts.

Why do the homeless need bike mechanic skills?

actual question, not trying to take the piss

Why do the homeless need bike mechanic skills?

actual question, not trying to take the piss

so that they can fix their bikes perhaps?

so that they can fix their bikes perhaps?

bingo

it's actually the same rationale behind the mechanics & fixin' section of this very forum. People with bikes in common like sharing their Bike Knowledge and Skills. I have very little, but enjoy giving advise to those with less so (of whom there is usually at least one). Why do I do this? Is it to inflate my own sense of self-importance? Ir true human altruism at play? I don't know. I may start a poll.

Sounds like a great scheme and right near my house.
I'll donate spares when I have them for sure.

nice one - cheers jol

ok, ive just never seen a homeless person on a bike

For the record, sometimes homeless people have dogs or children or wives or husbands too. Sometimes they even have jobs.

and they have drop bars turned towards the sky.

Sometimes they even have jobs.

doing what, apart from selling big issues?

whole can of worms about to be opened...........

ye i kno

ben i think what your problem is is that you're not actually seeing 'the homeless' as people like you are. You'd be surprised how easy it is to end up there yourself. In fact you should come down and meet some people at the workshop - you are displaying a mixture of fascination and ignorance on the subject at the moment that could be fixed by probably just talking to a couple of people who've been there.

Or read 'Down and Out In Paris and London'.

Or give up a Christmas one year and work at a homeless shelter like Crisis. Opens your eyes massively, you get to meet some really cool people (alongside the more "colourful" types), is pretty good fun, and educates you properly about stuff like drugs and alcaholism more than any other way possible. Would do it again in an instant if it wasn't for my line of work and parents getting old (need to be around them at Christmasses now).

Good on you Mongrel

ye, i wasn't having a go or anything, didn't mean to cause offence. I'm just surprised that a homeless person could get a job because for tax and thigs you need an address etc. I'm sure you do a lot of good that is well appreciated by the homeless, mongrel. I read down and out a couple of years ago, but may read it again now.I guess I can see why some people ike ex-army etc become homeless, but ye you're right, i probably just don't really understand. Sorry if I came across as a knobber.

no need to apologise mate - how could you know what it's really like without seeing for yourself? At least you're asking...

I've been technnically homeless/vulnerably housed a number of times. I'm a normal person, a student, work in a library, ride an Italian road bike with bits of chrome on it.. Don't have a drug or alcohol problem, or serious mental health issues.

General pattern is; subletting a room in a city I couldn't really afford, but needed to be in.. after a few months the contract (that I'm not on) ends and we all have to move out.. don't have the cash to put a deposit+rent+fees on a new house (a student, so not eligible for any benefits), so spend a bit of time sofa-surfing, a few days roughing etc. Eventually something a bit more permanent comes up, but a few months later the same thing happens. A few months ago I signed the first contract I've had on a house in the last two years. Was expecting to be out again in June, but just found out that we can stay on.

AFAIK, a lot of homelessness is like this.. bits and pieces of living in different places/ways. Its not just cardboard boxes under bridges.

The point is, that it's very easy to end up in a trap if your circumstances become slightly difficult for a while. I've been very lucky, and never been properly caught in the homelessness cycle, but am very aware of how easily it could have happened if I was a bit more unstable, or if my friends weren't so awesome, or if I had a bit more bad luck, or if I'd lost my job..

go to the imax at waterloo bridge roundabout thingy

theres a group of homeless people there that have dogs, bear, food, and i kid u not a massive selection of DVD's and a portable dvd player, all in good spirit but looking a bit rough. surprised me at first (ignorant) but then thought about it and yea why not, its not like they cn save up for a house deposit

They have a bear? fukin hell that must be a laugh to fuk about with. bit dangerous, mind.

when i was squatting i knew some people who went to Crisis for different things, I didn't think it was right as most of them where either supported by their parents, or chose the doll over work. I think that people like that should not drain the limited resources of something like Crisis, which helps people in actual need, not people who chose a life style of scrounging.

Just wondering how the people at Crisis actually feel about this.

They have a bear? fukin hell that must be a laugh to fuk about with. bit dangerous, mind.

You read my mind.....

They have a bear? fukin hell that must be a laugh to fuk about with. bit dangerous, mind.

well its not like they have much to lose...

crank from what i know you're spot on with everything you say, really.
rent in advance/deposit trap - happens to a lot of people. There're schemes being started up at the moment to help people with that. and it's also a fact that the majority of homelessness is people going from this to that with perhaps not a huge amount of sleeping on the street. glad you're more settled now though.

when i was squatting i knew some people who went to Crisis for different things, I didn't think it was right as most of them where either supported by their parents, or chose the doll over work. I think that people like that should not drain the limited resources of something like Crisis, which helps people in actual need, not people who chose a life style of scrounging.

Just wondering how the people at Crisis actually feel about this.

well i'm speaking as an individual here rather than a spokesperson for the charity cos i'm at home and i can't check the line with someone who does, but frankly as long as they weren't really taking the piss then fair play to them.

There's a big range of people who come in, from 60 yr olds who sleep rough and've been drinking themselves to death for the last 20 to the odd person who's got a place and a steady life but just enjoys coming down and learning stuff or just having a chat.

That being said when I'm down in the bicycle workshop doing stuff i use the tools but i don't use any of the parts on offer cos obviously i can afford my own. ie not taking the piss (even though there are some nice old road frames and handlebars in the workshop)

Anyone coming in adds to a sense of community, which is important because for some people there they might not've had a conversation for literally weeks, other than to have been moved on by the OB. So yeah in answer to your question cc as long as they didn't really take the piss in some way then it's all good.