The Community Bike Hub was founded in 2019, building on a previous Rotary initiative, with a focus on sustainability, waste reduction, community involvement, education and supporting those in need.
Since then, we have expanded to four sites:
- Barkly Street in West Footscray is our main touchpoint with the community. The shop is a full service and retail site that services hundreds of bikes per year and sells refurbished bikes and secondhand parts. People can donate bikes here, which are later refurbished and gifted from our Mills Close site.
- Mills Close serves as the pickup point for all bikes being distributed/gifted to people in need, and is where we partner with Footscray High School to run bike education programs while also fostering a volunteer program to facilitate community engagement
- Werribee, where in partnership with Reclink we have created another volunteer site and donation pickup point
- Brimbank Traffic School is a bicycle education facility that adds to our holistic offering, from learning to ride, to recycling and refurbishing bikes.
We’re also expanding our community impact through initiatives including the Spot & Cycle park ride and Empower Her Ride education program in collaboration with the City of Maribyrnong.
As we evolve, we will focus on diversifying revenue, identifying and successfully applying for grants that will support program and infrastructure expansion, and building both community and corporate partnerships that will enable us to scale up operations and increase our impact.
“The Community Bike Hub is making tangible social and environmental impacts through our donations program, bike repairs and refurbishment, and opportunities to learn and volunteer. It’s a resource for all the community to use, and I’m excited to see what’s next.”
Andy Moutray-Read, Committee Chair of the Community Bike Hub
