Hackney Bike Workshop

2012 bike workshops kicking off on Tuesday 3rd January

admin — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 14:18:51 +0000

Happy New Year!

We’re diving straight into 2012 with our first workshop on Tuesday 3rd January.

The dates for the January workshops are:

Tuesday 3th January – Frampton Park
Tuesday 10th January – Stoke Newington
Tuesday 17th January – Frampton Park

Each workshop runs from 7pm to 9pm.

Check out the map to find out where they’re happening.

Hope to see you there!

Winter Fundraising Party! Saturday 3rd December

Kate — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 21:34:43 +0000

We’re having a fundraising party on Saturday 3rd December , 8pm till 2am at The Royal Sovereign – just up the road from the Stoke Newington Workshop on Northwold Road.

There will be live music courtesy of The Stabilisers, DJs, pizza and beer, plus it’s free (we get a share of takings from the bar, so come thirsty).

Hope to see you there!

Bike Workshops in October

admin — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 15:43:46 +0000

Hi everyone

The dates for the October workshops are:

Tuesday 4th October – Frampton Park
Tuesday 11th October – Stoke Newington
Tuesday 18th October – Frampton Park

Each workshop runs from 7pm to 9pm.

Check out the map to find out where they're happening.

Hope to see you there!

Bike Maintenance & Security Tagging in Stoke Newington this Thursday (8th)

admin — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 11:00:47 +0000

Tonight is the Frampton Park workshop from 7pm, but Stokey residents have an opportunity to have their bikes checked over and security tagged by the police this Thursday (8th) from 3pm to 6pm in Kynaston Gardens on Kynaston Avenue, just off the High St.

Here are the details:

Get your bike fixed, security tagged and support our campaign to improve Kynaston Gardens and Avenue

Thursday 8th September – 3.00-6.00 in Kynaston Gardens

Several organisations and community groups are teaming up to promote courteous and safe cycling in Stoke Newington. Friends of Kynaston Gardens, Hackney Cyclists, the Council and the Safer Neighbourhoods Team are setting up in Kynaston Gardens on 8th September from 3:00 - 6:00 to remind cyclists to dismount on pavements and are offering FREE security tagging, a FREE bicycle health check from Donut Kids Bicycle and advice on safe cycling and cycle training.

Just pop in on the day!

The Friends of Kynaston Gardens has recently had very good news - £50,000 has been awarded by Community Spaces to transform the Gardens

To get involved, email kynastongardens@gmail.com.

Bike Workshops in September

admin — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 08:26:43 +0000

Hi everyone

The dates for the September workshops are:

Tuesday 6th September – Frampton Park
Tuesday 13th September – Stoke Newington
Tuesday 20th September – Frampton Park

As usual they run from 7pm to 9pm.

Check out the map to find out where they're happening.

Hope to see you there!

Bike Workshops in August

admin — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 07:04:55 +0000

The dates for the July workshops are:

Tuesday 2nd August – Frampton Park
Tuesday 9th August – Stoke Newington
Tuesday 16th August – Frampton Park

Check out the map to find out where they're happening.

Hope to see you there!

Bike Workshops in July

admin — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 19:14:47 +0000

The dates for the July workshops are:

Tuesday 5th July – Frampton Park
Tuesday 12th July – Stoke Newington
Tuesday 19th July – Frampton Park

Check out the map to find out where they're happening.

Hope to see you there!

Competition: Pedal Powered Apple Crusher

Jamie — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 09:15:27 +0000

The London Orchard Project has launched a competition to design a pedal powered apple crusher:

Call for proposals: Pedal-powered apple crusher

The London Orchard Project is looking for someone to design and make a new pedal-powered apple crusher for easy juicing of urban apples.

This is an exciting opportunity to create a really useful product that does not currently exist. The crusher will be used by us and community groups across London harvesting and juicing local fruit. It’s a great opportunity to be part of the future of local fruit production and processing in our wonderful city.

Background

Apple juicing is a 2-stage process. First the apples need to be crushed to a pulp, then they are pressed to get the juice.

Small scale community apple juice producers using hand-operated crushers know through bitter experience that the crushing stage is slow, dull and blister-inducing. There are electric crushers available, but these are too expensive for small voluntary groups, require a power source (not always available at outdoor events) and conflict with the low carbon/ off the grid ethos of small-scale community food production.

The Vigo website shows the crushers currently available on the market with some useful videos of how these work:

http://www.vigopresses.co.uk/store/index.php?cPath=63_77

The Brief

We are looking for an intermediate technology apple crusher: faster and easier to use than existing hand-operated crushers, but without need for electricity.

The ideal crusher would be:

• Pedal powered

• Transportable- ideally readily attachable to a bike

• Safe to use- has a mechanism that ensure apples only get crushed (no fingers in our juice!)

• Quick – a small electric crusher by comparison can crush up to 1,000kg of apples per hour (but it doesn’t need to achieve aquite these volumes!)

• Effective – reducing the apples to a fine pulp for optimum juice pressing

• Very sturdy- it will be used by many groups across London

• Using reclaimed materials where possible

• Easy to repair

• Looks cool! (the most discerning teenager will be keen to give it a go)

• Replicable

• Ideally (but not necessarily), you’d be up for sharing the design with other groups who may want to make their own.

Prize and Budget

We have a £200 prize for the person who makes us the crusher. And you’ll get the satisfaction of knowing your creation is being put to good use and enjoyed by 1000s of Londoners. And we’ll make sure to spread the word about the brains behind the crusher.

In addition, we anticipate the budget for materials to be in the region of £200-£400 (but are still very keen to see cheaper or more expensive designs)

To take up the challenge…

If you are interested or have any questions, please contact orchard@thelondonorchardproject.org outlining:

• Your initial design

• Relevant experience in designing, making or working with similar machines

• Budget breakdown for the work

Closing dates for entries is 20th July. The winner will be announced on 25th July.

We would like the crusher on 31st August at the latest, ready for the harvesting season

More about The London Orchard Project at www.thelondonorchardproject.org

June workshops

Kate — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 17:28:30 +0000

Tuesday the 7 and 21st in Frampton Park, Tuesday the 14th in Stoke Newington.

Bike Workshops in May

Kate — Tue, 03 May 2011 13:14:35 +0000

Tonight (Tuesday 3rd May) the Frampton Park workshop will be open for business as usual from 7pm.

Next Stoke Newington workshop will be on the 10th May and the Frampton Park workshop will be back on the 17th May.

Hope to see you there!