Reading Bicycle Kitchen and Community Resilience: A Case Study

By

Sara Valentina Botero Cepeda

Dissertation presented in partial fulfilment of the degree of BSc in Environmental Science

Supervisor: Emily Boyd/Steve Musson

2016

Word Count: 9865

Abstract

A case study on the Reading Bicycle Kitchen (RBK) through participatory observations and semi-structured interviews on RBK stakeholders, to assess how they impact the community and if through these actions community resilience is being built.Findings: RBK is building resilience in three main ways. One, is is creating a community to those who might not have had one; two it provides services to the general Reading community; and three it increases the cohesion within Reading, however its ability to do so relies on having a permanent premise. Research limitations: Interviews were conducted only with volunteers. Future research would be to interview individuals that directly benefit from RBK such as customer, as well as member of the Reading community who don’t directly benefit on their views of RBK.Social implications: Reduction in vulnerability of individuals who benefit directly from RBK through increased social bridging capital and safety nets.Environmental implications: With 634 bicycles sold since it opened and over 2500 work stand sessions hired, RBK is facilitating sustainable transportation, through advocating cycling and making it accessible to all.

Contents Page

Chapter One

1.1 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………….. .11.2 Literature Review………………………………………………………………………………….5

Chapter Two

2.1 Methodology…….…………………………………………………………………………………15

Chapter Three

3.1 Results/Discussion……………………………………………………………………………….19

Chapter Four

4.1 Implications and recommendations…………………………………………………….404.2 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………………..40

Acknowledgements ……………………………………………………………………………………………..42

References…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….43

Appendices ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….48

Chapter OneIntroduction:

These two different stories on how the two individuals came to volunteer at the Reading Bicycle Kitchen (RBK) showcases the importance of gathering qualitative data so as to further understand the impacts of green initiatives like RBK, on the community. As well the motivations behind starting to volunteering and continuing to do so (Townsend et al., 2014; Henryks, 2011).

Mariana’s story:

Like many at RBK, Mariana found RBK in a difficult period of her life. Due to a difficult divorce she found herself with low self esteem and little confidence. Mariana only came in to look at what had happened to her childhood shop in February 2015 and one of the main directors got a hold of her and encouraged her to volunteer. First started behind the desk where she described it as “nice and safe” and although she likes to be on her own she feels she’s a “people’s person”. With time she realised that she didn’t have to ask for permission to change or organise things differently, she could act out of her own accord. She started bringing in cake, which everyone enjoyed. Through this process of “getting out what I put in”, she was able to regain her self esteem and confidence to the point where one year on she is now a director of RBK since I've interviewed her.

“my confidence was built, my self-worth has been built a hell of a lot, I’m now a lot more positive in my outlook and I, I mean, I probably wouldn’t have started dating again without the kitchen, I’m now thinking of doing my masters which I wouldn’t have had the confidence to do, progressing my career and I think the kitchen has been a big part of that because its given me the people to talk to and who don’t judge and they know as much about my past as I want them to know and again its about me being me and its finding out who I am again, yeah that’s my story.” (Mariana, RBK volunteer, interview)

Miguel’s story:

Initially he came in as a customer, his colleagues and him had recognised that another colleague was having to walk 40/50 minutes each day and her birthday was coming up, so knowing what RBK did, he asked if he could buy and work on an unfinished bike. Miguel enjoyed his experience in RBK so he started volunteering the next week. The colleague now cycles daily and through going to maintain her bike she also became a volunteer.

“I told her about the RBK one month guarantee, I told her ok any problem or anything just go there and she came here and she became a volunteer too, she started enjoying bicycle, how the bicycle works, what she can do to maintain it because its her way of transport so it’s a tool that she was really needing and not just for the weekend, so she needs to learnt how the bicycle works how to fix it if she has any problems, so that was quite interesting.” (Miguel, RBK volunteer, interview)

Vignette 1 - the proliferation of RBK in the Reading community

Vignette 2 - the personal impact of RBK on an individual

1

RBK started in June of 2014 with a grant from the local sustainable transport grant from the Reading Council, it then had to spend most of the grant in business rates, eventually they were able to get their rates reduced. They acquired the property Jacksons through the help of Reading Voluntary Action and they sustain themselves through the selling of volunteer refurbished bikes.

RBK and other bicycle kitchens:

A bicycle kitchen takes on several names across the world but they all have in common their aims taken from (Bikecollective.org, 2016), which are:

Non-profit bicycle organizations Bike shops that are accessible to people without money Shops that have an educational focus, teaching others how to fix bikes Shops that are volunteer run Organizations that ship bikes to communities in other countries. Shops that provide free or low-cost services to the community. Organizations that recycle bicycles and parts

Wider context

The reason to research a green initiative in the broader aspect is due the imminent threat of climate change. World and urban population have been increasing exponentially since the 1950s, the combination of a growing population together with real GDP also increasing exponentially has led to exponential growth in the consumption of our resources, which is unsustainable and has lead to environmental and social changes (Steffen et al., 2015).

Image 1- Transport Growth (Steffen et al., 2015)

2

Transportation has also increased exponentially, as can be observed in image 1, hence the importance of researching grassroots initiatives that aim to give contribute to sustainable equitable transport. In the UK 66% of trips are less than 5 miles which can be cycled in 30 minutes and 19% are less than a mile long which can take about 6 minutes (Tight et al., 2011) which makes cycling a very good option for sustainable transport.

Secondly to research what kind of social impact it has on the resilience of the community, reason being that it has been found that “social, not physical, infrastructure drives resilience” (Aldrich & Meyer, 2015, p1). Through increasing bonding social capital (Adler & Kwon, 2002) which creates safety nets, through people helping each other out in a time of need (Hurlbert et al., 2000), and in a wider context of the community as a whole, bridging social capital, which transcends race and class (Aldrich & Meyer, 2015). The latter type of social capital comes frequently from groups, clubs and organisations (Small, 2010 cited in Aldrich & Meyer, 2015).

With regards to the literature there seems to be a consensus of the benefits of initiatives that aim to contribute to their community however this doesn’t seem to be reflected in their funding (Townsend et al., 2014) and this also applies to public health, little attention is given for preventative measures, it is only when immediate problems arise such as gridlocks or unsafe air that attention is given to urban conditions (Werna et al., 2014).

This has led Ozanne & Ozanne, (2016) to research alternative consumer markets and how they build community resilience, they found that they created communication system which created bridging social capital which led to self organisation, pooling of resources and “willingness to engage in collective action” (Ozanne & Ozanne, 2016, p24). During the research an earthquake occurred, this allowed the researchers to see how the capacities that had been built allowed for quick response through communication and links created before the disaster, and they were particularly good at identifying vulnerable individuals and mobilise resources to them (Ozanne & Ozanne, 2016). Other examples are the positive impact on volunteers and other participants from a school garden kitchen (Townsend et al., 2014: Henryks, 2011); the experiences of a community cycling initiative on the urban youth

Image 2 - Community Bike shops in the global north (Bikecollective, 2016)

3

in Philadelphia and how they gained skills and knowledge as well as saying that were more likely to cycle due to their experiences (Hoffman et al., 2014); a recycling cooperative created in Sao Paulo and how it created capacity building and through participation, empowerment (Tremblay, 2010); through using the bicycles from Re-Cycle UK, a physicallydisabled run bicycle cooperative in Ghana was created which gave opportunities, “Due to my disability, I found it hard to get a job, but now I am an administrator and salesperson at Ability Bikes, and I have my own place to live” (Cooperative in Ghana, 2014, p64).

As well as the papers already mentioned, the bicycle literature seems to be very scares with only a passing note in papers such as in Weninger (2012) and (Schwanen, 2015) bicycle kitchens/cooperatives. Considering that there are hundreds of community bike shops in the global north as it can be seen in image 2, there seems to be a gap in the literature of the impact these green initiatives are having on both the people involved and the community it serves; Henryks (2011, p1) states “there is scant literature on the various ways in which a kitchen garden may affect the various stakeholders involved in it’s community”, much less peer review papers seem to exist for bicycle kitchens than for garden kitchens.

Aims

Consequently, my aim of my research is to gather qualitative data on the Reading Bicycle Kitchen (RBK) through participatory observations and then semi-structured interviews on RBK stakeholders, to assess how they are impacting the community and if through these actions community resilience is being increased.

4

Literature Review

My research touches on three different but overlapping which I will be discussing: literature fields, cycling, volunteering and community resilience.

Cycling

Cycling is the answer to many things. According to the literature it is good for ones’ health, for the health of the community and it could have a significant impact on the health of our environment (Lovelace et al., 2011; Heinen, 2011; Pucher et al., 2010; Pucher & Buehler, 2008). However, cycling has been on the decline in the UK, from 23 to 5 billion passenger kilometres from 1952 to 2006 (DfT, 2007a cited in Tight et al., 2011), whilst the rate of car usage continuous to increase steadily ((De Vos et al., 2012; Cox, 2010).

Environmental impacts:

Transport is responsible for 26% of global CO2 emissions, with road transport accounting for 65% and it is amongst a small number of industrial sectors that are still growing (Chapman, 2007). Chapman (2007, p357) stresses the urgency in focusing in the present and creating short-term behavioural change and describes cycling as “real alternative” due to being “zero carbon”. By getting on a bicycle instead of car or bus, there’s a reduction in air degradation and noise pollution (Cox, 2010; Sælensminde, 2004), reduction in traffic and CO2 emissions (Evans, 2011). As well as an overall reduction in net energy used as a result of achievable increases in rates of cycling (Lovelace et al., 2011) and the benefit of investing in cycling as a means of transport is 4 to 5 times its cost (Steinbach et al., 2011). Consequently, it makes sense to prioritise investment in cycling over other transport investment (Steinbach et al., 2011). Additionally, Tighter et al. (2011) state that in the UK 66% of trips are less than 5 miles which can be cycled in 30 minutes and 19% are less than a mile long which can take about 6 minutes to cycle, which is more reason for making cycling a viable transport option.

Negative environmental impacts

In the construction of bikes energy is required and most commonly it’s non-renewable fossil fuels, which produces both greenhouse emissions as well as other harmful substances. Some parts of a bicycle can be recycled, ‘can’ being the operative word as this doesn’t always happen, with bicycles being disposed off in landfill or abandoned, but even when a bike is taken apart to be recycled there are some parts which can’t be recycled and still end up in landfill (environment.nationalgeographic.com, 2016). Consequently, to negate this, the answer is to extend the lifespan of a bicycle as much as possible (Grogan, 2008), hence the importance of the second hand market. The second hand market is important for the environment but also for society as it opens up the market to lower income individuals who

5

would like to use the bicycle as a means of transport but can’t afford a brand new bicycle (Bijker, 1997).

Health impacts:

The health impacts in the literature when it come to cycling are numerous, both physically and mentally (Hoffman et al., 2014; Basset et al., 2011; Steinbach et al., 2011; Cox, 2010). A transition from car to bicycle for small trips a study found would increase a person’s lifespan by as much as 14 months (Boogaard et al., 2010).

Social impacts:

According to Cox (2010), cycling provides movement which allows for increasing quality of life and access. The bicycle is a powerful tool for cohesion as it allows for people to easily travel greater distances geographically so that there are less separations and more interconnectivity (Bijker, 1997). Appleyard (1981), found a correlation between the level of traffic and the cohesiveness of the street community, which can be seen in image 3; therefore cycling is having knock on effects on the social cohesion of communities by getting people off their cars and reducing traffic. Cycling also allows for empowerment through the freedom of movement and has been linked with feminism (Bijker, 1997).

Why some countries are better at it:

Pucher & Buehler (2008) talk about the need to create cycling convenient, safe and attractive for it to be successful. They also talk about how in the industrialised world most journeys are not made by bicycle but instead cycling is seen as a leisure activity, with only about 1% of trips being made by bike in the UK and USA, compared to the 27% in the Netherlands (Pucher & Buehler, 2008). The difference between these countries are that the latter have adopted strong pro-cycling policies (Tight et al., 2011) and have prioritised the cyclists instead of treating them like second class citizens. Social attitudes are also different, cyclist don’t feel like they are the minority or weird such as they do in the UK (Pooley et al., 2013). In the US attitudes are very different, specially for women where Furness (2010, p181) has found that “men exert a dominant presence in bike culture” which leads women to be intimidated to fix their own bicycles.

Infrastructure and top down pro-cycling policies are crucial in increasing cycling in a wide scale (Pucher & Buehler, 2008), however when there doesn’t seem to be actions being taken by top down authorities such as the council, people have shown agency by creating their own solutions, such example is RBK. The UK is far behind in creating cycling a viable, safe, convenient mode of transport and like Pucher & Buehler 2008 pg. 496, state “in many respects, UK [..] has given the green light to the private car, almost regardless of its economic, social and environmental costs.”

6

Image 3 - different levels of traffic and how they affect the number of connections and sense of community

7

Barriers: Access to a bicycle:

In a study factors that affected the use of the Ciclovia (a cycling route), having a bicycle in the household was the strongest predictor of the likelihood of cycling (Cervero et al., 2009). For some people it is not affordable for them to either purchase a brand new bike, much less pay for the often expensive repair cost/maintenance that comes with owning a bike. Like Bijker (1997) talks about, it is not until the second hand market is accessible that people who could benefit from using a bicycle as a mode of transport, by being affordable RBK is promoting and making accessible cycling to people with low incomes. Consequently, to increase cycling, one of the key factors are accessibility to a bicycle and everything that comes from owning one.

Fear/safety:

Cervero et al. (2009) revealed that Ciclovia activity were higher for males. This is probably due to women being more sensitive to perceiving danger on the road and fear of safety has been found to be a significant barrier to getting people cycling for every day journeys (Horton et al., 2012; Hoffman et al., 2014). The more people cycle the safer the roads are for cyclists, as it can be seen in image 4, the increase in cycling in 1977 coincided with a steep decrease in cyclist mortality (Pucher & Buehler, 2008) so consequently by getting people cycling this forces drivers to take more notice which consequently means that cyclists will be safer.

Furness (2010, p182) provided a quote from Elicia Cardenas a bicycle mechanic and advocate about her previous experience:

“I was afraid to ride my bike because what happens if I get a flat and I'm stuck somewhere and I don’t know how to change it. That puts me in a potentially dangerous situation, whereas if I know how to deal with it, then I’m golden.”

This highlights how “learning how to diagnose and fix problems instills an important degree of autonomy and independence, and it is also empowering.” (Furness, 2010, p182).

8

Views on cycling:

There is a need to create cycling attractive to everyone. To create a culture of cycling, every demographic group needs to be cycling (Pucher & Buelher, 2008), this is so that it is seen as the norm (Pooley et al., 2011) or even a popular thing to do. So that car ownership is not seen as a wealth symbol (Cox, 2010) which causes cycling to be seen as an inferior mode of transport (Pooley et al., 2013) because as soon as that individual reaches an economic security where they can afford a car, they will dismount their bicycle and step into their car. Once they own a car their likelihood of cycling is dramatically reduced (Cervero et al.,2009).

Conclusion

The cycling benefits don’t just benefit the cyclist but even those that don’t partake, through reduced air and noise pollution and reduced traffic (Cox, 2010) and increased health (Rojas-Rueda et al., 2012). In conclusion the benefits that arise from cycling far exceed the health risks, which is a large misconception which deters people from cycling (Pucher et al., 2010). However, there are barriers that need to be overcome for cycling to be taken up in large numbers (Hoffman et al., 2014; Pooley et al., 2013; Furness, 2010; Pucher & Buehler, 2008).

Image 4 - Bike use and Cyclist killed from 1950 to 2005 in the Netherlands adapted from Pucher &Buehler, 2008

9

Volunteering

Volunteering has a positive effect on individuals, communities, broader societal levels and the environment (Townsend et al., 2014). For individuals there’s a link between volunteering and better health both physically and mentally (Lum & Lightfoot, 2005) and volunteering increases the likelihood of meeting physical activity guidelines and environmental volunteering even more so (Librett et al., 2005).

Benefit to themselves:

People can start volunteering for mainly two reasons, a desire to be altruistic or instrumental motivations which are based on self interest (Flick et al., 2002), or a combination of the two. Instrumental motivations can be broken down into sub categories as shown in table 1. Benefits and unexpected outcomes from volunteering, as well as motivations can be seen in image 5.

Table 1 - Instrumental Motivation

Understanding Opportunity to learning or gain practical skills

Social Opportunity to meet new people and spend time with friends

Career Opportunity to advance career wise

Protective Opportunities to negate feeling of being more fortunate or escaping personal problems

Enhancement Opportunities for increasing personal growth or self-esteem

Adapted from (Philips & Philips, 2010)

Volunteering can counter acts mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety because it allows individuals to access social and psychological resources (Black & Living, 2004; Musick & Wilson, 2003). By participating in voluntary work the individual becomes part of a group where there’s the possibility of creating new friendships which can enhance the individual’s safety net, consequently reducing their vulnerability. Flick et al. (2002) found that all the research shows that volunteers indirectly benefit from helping others. Which means that even the individuals that started volunteering based on instrumental motivation are also benefitting from their altruistic action that they undertake.

Volunteering also provides a path to employment (Flick et al., 2002) through increasing skills and networking. Consequently, the benefits are both tangible and intangible (Henryk, 2011). The benefits to the volunteer are very important to understand so as to prevent burnout (Measham & Barnett, 2007).

10

Benefit to the community

All the benefits for the individual cumulatively contribute to benefiting greater societal levels (Townsend et al., 2014). Many cultural and social initiatives wouldn’t be possible to function successfully if it weren’t for the contribution of time, skills and effort from volunteering individuals (Townsend et al., 2014). Consequently, initiatives are dependent on volunteer participation (Henryks, 2011). In the UK and the USA, the percentage of the population involved was 16.6% and 38.4% respectively (Ruiter & De Graff, 2006). And in the USA these combined efforts account for more than $270 billion (Rotolo & Wilson, 2006). These figures show the importance of the volunteering sector. Not only for the service that they are providing but as an indicator of the social health and cohesion of communities (Flick et al., 2002).

The services that they can provide range from making possible: school kitchens gardens (Townsend et al., 2014; Henryks (2011), ecological restoration (Measham & Barnett, 2007); Earn-A-Bike schemes (Hoffman et al., 2014) and countless more that contribute to the health of the community. As Castells (2006, p219) states “cities are produced and transformed by the collective actions of protests, resistance and project building”, he doesn’t undermine the importance of technology and other factors but instead he’s trying

Image 5 – Concept framework around volunteers experience (Henryks, 2011)

11

to highlight the importance of citizens as the cities ‘producers’, in other words agency which he feels is “overlooked in social sciences”.

Volunteering can potentially increase the sense of place for the individuals and their participation in their communities; Townsend et al. (2014) talk about the ABS survey where it found that volunteers are more likely to be altruistic in other areas of their lives compared to non-volunteers, as well as being more likely to attend community events.

Volunteering can also benefit the community by providing a way for marginalised groups to integrating into society through working with different types of people and gaining social and employable skills (O'Brien et al., 2011).

Research on a school kitchen garden program found that students performed better; teachers had better relations with the parents, specially those that were from ethnic minority groups; volunteers increased the connection between the school and the local community (Townsend et al., 2014). Henryks (2011), found similar findings.

Community

Meaning of community

A community is a group of people linked by a common factor (Thornley et al., 2013), there are different types of communities; communities of interest are about people coming together over a common interest and then there are geographical communities such as towns and streets. However, a community is more than just a group of people, a community means that the people in it experience a sense of place, they have their own capacities and resources (Patterson et al., 2010).

Why there is a need for resilience:

From Carson, (2002) book Silent Spring, came the realisation that humans have impact on the environment and possibly in an irreversible way. In the scientific world there is a general consensus that we are currently experiencing human induced climate change (IPCC, 2007). These are all points that lead to the overall conclusion that not only do we have an impact on the environment but consequently the environment has an impact on society, people and nature are interdependent systems (Boyd & Folke, 2012).

Resilience

How do some communities/societies cope with disturbances in the form of shocks and/or stresses and some collapse? Factors such as resilience answer this question, consequently understanding how resilience can be increased is key in dealing with how climate change and economic shocks impact social systems and how this impact can be mitigated or

12

adaptive strategies created so that they can absorb the shock and go back to the previous state, if it was a desirable state, adapting and arriving to a different improved state (Dagdeviren et al., 2016). Resilience was originally a concept to define ecological systems, Holling was one of the first people to outline this concept on how ecological systems absorb external changes and disturbances whilst continuing in their function through adaptation and sometimes transformation (Magis, 2010; Folke, 2006; Holling, 1973).

However, ecological systems unlike social systems can not anticipate, they can only react, consequently they cannot plan, thus the definition of resilience has changed over time from being based on ecological systems to social-ecological systems (SES) (Boyd & Folke, 2012). As a result, social processes such as: social learning, social memory and stakeholders are being taken into consideration when defining what resilience entails in a SES context (Brown, 2014; Folke, 2006).

Community resilience

Not every community is equal (Patterson et al., 2010). More and more our environment is changing, we are entering into unchartered territory hence the importance of investigating community resilience because it focuses on how they can deal with uncertainty and what actions they can take to deal with the unforeseen (Magis, 2010).

Community resilience has the same basis of resilience but it has more of a focus on the social capital; “concepts like social resilience are related to theories of ‘social capital’, which stress the importance of social networks… these allow the individuals to accomplish greater things than they could by their isolated efforts” (Patterson et al., 2010), communities with high resilience have a strong cohesion and can hence encourage cooperative behaviour thanks to the strong sense of place that exists amongst these communities. The main components of community resilience that I will be focusing on are learning (growing, empowerment), access to resources and capacities (human and financial) and social protection (vulnerability reduction and social safety nets) (emBRACE, 2015).

How is community resilience increased?

Community resilience is increased by increasing the empowerment, learning and support networks within the community. Communities can build resilience through increasing their capacity to be able to not only cope but also improve and potentially transform in our environmental which we have established to be constantly changing (Magis, 2010). Social capital creates community resilience (Aldrich & Meyer, 2015), the more interconnected a community is, the easier information, knowledge and assistance can be transmitted through its network (Biggs et al., 2015). The more links and the stronger they are, the more sensitive the system is to disturbances which is crucial when turbulent events such as flooding occur, due it being time sensitive (Aldrich & Meyer, 2015). Bonding social capital (Adler & Kwon, 2002) refers to bonds between family and friends, and bridging social capital refers to links that transcend race and class. The latter is increased through interactions in community organisations (Small, 2010 cited in Aldrich & Meyer, 2015).

13

Agency

Through empowering individuals in the community, it is also increasing their agency. their ability and capacity to act out of their own accord and here in lies the importance of community initiatives to create a platform for social and information networks. Integration and ‘bridge-building’ is needed so as to increase the cohesion of communities which consequently strengthens and increases its networks. These initiatives can also act as sensors to detect vulnerable members or groups of the community and allocate resources adequately and equitably (Ozanne & Ozanne, 2016).

Critiquing Resilience:

Some argue Brown (2014, p-4) that resilience as a concept “underlines recovery more than fundamental change” and it might even favour certain types of adaptation that favour practices which are unsustainable in the long run and that “a resilience approach, while bringing capacities to the fore, negates consideration of root causes of vulnerability.” (Gaillard, 2010 cited in Brown, 2014). Here in lies the importance of green initiatives that do both, increase the resilience of its community whilst tackling root causes, such as marginalised people and reducing environmental pollution.

14

Chapter TwoMethodology

I initially started volunteering in RBK because the holidays had started and I needed to do something productive with my time, I volunteered during the day at Oxfam music and after I would go to RBK. It was only through talking about RBK meetings as an example of participation with Emily Boyd that it was suggested that RBK would be one of the three initiatives that I conducted my dissertation on, this occurred in October. Due to time restraints it January was then suggested that I solely focused on RBK for my research.

Participatory research

Since July 2015 until November 2015 I volunteered frequently (3-5 a week) in the initiative and attended nearly every volunteering meeting, after that period I carried on volunteering but much more infrequently. I learned how to fix bikes through being taught and observing more established volunteers, on day one I had no knowledge of bikes and on day 3 I was already helping a customer replace their break cables (Pfadenhauer & Grenz, 2015). Through volunteering I gained positionality which enabled the RBK community to not just see me as someone doing research on the initiative but firstly a fellow volunteer (Breitbart, 2010).

Positionality:

1- Choice of research questions – through my participatory involvement I was able to gain insight on the impacts that RBK has, who it has them on and the interactions that occur (Breitbart, 2010). This allowed me to design the semi-structured interviews questions in a more insightful way.

2- My experience ‘in the field’ – I feel that through gaining my positionality through participatory research, which meant that I was researching with people instead of on people (Breitbart, 2010), I was able to interview some of the less extrovert stakeholders of RBK through the feeling of trust that was created.

3- Interpretation of events – my observations were what I had hypothesised, my observations alone could potentially have a very biased positionality due to the unconscious motivation to highlight the strengths of RBK, hence the importance of semi-structured interviews. I was aware of the potential unconscious motivations and tried to keep them in mind through out my research so as to be as critical as possible, as England (2008, p252) states, positionality “plays a central role in the research process, in the field as well as in the final text”, Seale (2011) also agrees with this statement.

My own positon:Latin American nationality from a middle class family. I have been living in the UK for thirteen years and through my engagement with RBK it has been the first time that I truly feel part of a wider community. Furthermore, I encountered RBK in a particularly difficult part of my life which I feel has “influenced the nature of my field work” (England, 2008, p248). I am also female which may lead people to be more forthcoming in their interviews (McDowall, 1988 cited in England, 2008).

15

Interviews

I undertook one-on-one semi structured interviews with members of RBK, they can be viewed in table 2.

Table 2- individuals interviewedDirectors – 1 Hour interviews

Annie (58) Semi-retired, previously director of Reading transport. Sees the bicycle as an empowering tool, been cycling since being a toddler. RBK mechanic.

Eddy (23) Commutes into reading, cycling enthusiast. Asked to be involved directly. Lead RBK mechanic .

Billie (28) Emergency care assistance in the ambulance. Originally a customer, has previously volunteered in another bike kitchen. Lead RBK mechanic.

Graeme (59)One of the founders. Retired. Founder member of Repair Café. Lorry cycling instructor. Joined cycle campaign when he retired and was elected chairman following year. Lead RBK mechanic.

Volunteers – 30 Minutes interview

Sean (29) Landscape Gardner. Avid athlete. From London, been living for two years in Reading. Volunteer since April 2015. RBK mechanic

Mariana (37) Nurse, brings in cake to RBK and is in charge of the desk, has been very positively influenced by the initiative. Doesn’t ride a bicycle.

Grey (25)Clark at RB Hospital. Tried out the different volunteering options in Reading and settled in RBK, it has helped give him focus, didn’t have previous experience and is now is a RBK mechanic.

Jeanne (51) Software Tester. Living in Reading for 6 years. RBK has allowed her to have a better work/life balance, RBK mechanic .

Miguel(35) Geographic engineer but is working in a bank. Has been living in the UK for 3 years. RBK mechanic.

Alexander (37)

Software architect. Moved to the UK 2 years ago. Cycling is the main mode of transport age 5 to 20 in his country. RBK mechanic.

Mario (54) Apprentice development coach. RBK has "rekindle" his passion for bike mechanics. Volunteer from the beginning

Greg (48) Volunteers full time, doesn’t work. One of the directors of RISC.Jacques (44) Self employed engineer/graphic designer. Doesn’t ride a bicycle. Ramona (40s) GIS technician. Loves cycling and RBK. Has been living in the UK for 2 years.

The participants didn’t know the nature of my research, just that the research was on RBK. This was so as not to create a preset for the tone of the interview and they were also told that it was completely anonymous. The questions were open-ended so as not to create restrictions on the answers that participants gave (Longhursrt, 2010) and they were designed in order not to influence the interviewees answers so as not impose my preconceived ideas and allow participants to introduce themes that I might have not previous thought off (Hoffman et al., 2014). I opted to not do focus groups because due to there being a host of diverse characters, some more quiet than other, one-on-one

16

interviews allowed each participants to get their say without being overshadowed by more extrovert member and also not to influence each other. I did semi structured interviews so that everyone of the volunteers had the same set of questions but if they made an interesting point, I could ask them to expand or explain, this way the interviews are fair in that everyone has the same questions but there is space for exploration which allows for the interviews to be made personal. To get my interviewees, I asked for people to volunteer themselves to be interviewed in the RBK volunteers Facebook page due to time restraints, this might have worked to my advantage because if I had chosen them then they might have been representative of my unconsciously motives, which is not what is desired in qualitative work but instead “to understand how individual people experience and make sense of their lives” (Valentine, 2005 cited in Longhursrt, 2010, p108).

The questions that I asked where based around the concept that community resilience is a combination of three themes: social protection (reducing vulnerability), learning (social capacity, empowerment), access to resources (emBRACE, 2015).

The original set of questions had questions that were influencing the tone of the interview, such as “how was RBK improved you as an individual?” talking it over with my dissertation advisor, I then re-phrased it to “how has RBK influenced you as an individual?”.

Through out the transcribing of interviews I would note down themes that were reoccurring (open coding), using the words that were used by the participants (emic codes), for example ‘teaching’ and ‘feel good’. I then created a spreadsheet with participants along the top and the questions down the left side and I inserted both the emic and etic codes. This allowed me to ‘shift and sort’ (Crang, 2005) so as to come up with the main themes to analyse in the discussion as some of the emic codes could be subcategories of etic codes. Furthermore, this more easily allowed me to read across the interviews, for example it was very insightful seeing the patterns on the motivation behind participant’s reasons for volunteering which varied much more than for example the aims of RBK which were quite uniform across all participants (Cope, 2010).

Limitations

My involvement with the initiative over the past year has meant that I was able to accumulate over a hundred of hours of observations in regards to the customers and the volunteers, this has led me to have a deeper understanding of RBK and gain positionality (Breitbart, 2010). However, it also meant that although I tried to be as unbiased as possible, my findings might still be influenced through my own positionality (Seale, 2011; England, 2008). Further biased might have also affected the findings through the type of volunteers that were interviewed due to the fact that most of the participants came forward to be interviewed, consequently they might be volunteers that above the norm amongst the volunteering force in RBK through their dedication, and from my observations the volunteers I interviewed are volunteers that strong dedication towards RBK. However, from my observations strong dedication towards the initiative is not above the norm. An idea to follow on from this work would be to interview a group of very infrequent volunteers as a control group to see whether the current themes arise or new ones come up.

17

Due to the nature of using a local case study to assess how green initiatives impact the community resilience it means that the findings are very context and place specific, which is imperative in terms of tackling concerns with local policies however the down side is that these findings might not be transferable to another town or city (Miller et al, 2010).

Once I had completed my analysis I realised that I wanted to find out the impact of RBK on the community but I was failing to ask the community itself. So my next step for the future research will be to conduct interviews with RBK customers (members of the community that benefit directly from RBK but are not involved in the initiative), as well as other members of the community that know of RBK but do not benefit directly from it.

18

Chapter Three

Results and Discussion

Volunteers might start of with an interest to become more self sufficient with their bikes so as to keep their bike on the road (Cox, 2010; Flick et al., 2002), the basics such as changing the inner tube but soon develop a deeper interest for bikes and learning about them, they also feel welcomed in the inclusive community that has been created in RBK. It ticks so many boxes for an individual wanting to use up some of their free time: socialising,

giving/contributing to the community, learning, (Henryks, 2011; Philips & Philips, 2010) all of these factors contribute to empowering the individual (Black & Living, 2004). All this empowers the individual, whilst providing them with an innovative space for them give back to the community (Henryks, 2011). Through out the interviews I found out the views of the volunteers and directors which gave me a deeper understanding of the inner workings of the RBK, what it represents and how its been a success.

Inclusive

The Bike Kitchen (BK) is intrinsically inclusive, you only need to show an interest in getting involved, a love for bikes is helpful but not necessary, rather an interest in giving is much more crucial (Henryks, 2011), Mariana is an example of this, in that she is a volunteer but has cycled around once in the past year but that in no respect has made her an outcast among the volunteers, she is held in high esteem by everyone. This is because RBK aims to not discriminate, either with its customers or its volunteers. This inclusive environment that all of the volunteers mentioned has been described as:

Ramona: Because RBK doesn’t look at the people in the way, you have blue eyes with blond hair so you are posh or you are 150 and for example 100kilo so you are not a person so RBK doesn’t make a difference between the people, everybody in the kitchen doesn’t feel better than anyone else […] From my opinion age 14 to 70ish so its quite a wide and this is good….Different sorts of backgrounds, I mean I’m a gis technician you are a student of the university and people working, doesn’t matter how old or young you are

The inclusive environment also encompasses people from all levels, which makes it a very non-threatening place to start of, so the importance of RBK is that there’s no entry requirement and it introduced new people into fixing bikes and cycling (Cox, 2010).

Mariana: I think they, they introduce people to cycling, they introduce people to volunteering, they introduce people to helping in a very non-threatening way, sometimes when you volunteer it can be quite structured and you can have a job description and a contract, your role is this, but in the bike kitchen its [relaxed] [..] so that thinking in the initiative, is very inclusive

19

Sean: we’ve done group rides as well, again its been very slow and steady so everyone can join in, they’ve been brilliant

And a director’s comment:

Annie: we never say no to anybody who wants to volunteer, who ever volunteers there's always something that they can do that is helpful and that they feel happy for them to do and somebody does that who has a low skill set whether it be to regards to bicycles or because they have some sorts of difficulties everybody always has something to offer […] we are open to everybody.

RBK is also inclusive through being accessible, with its low prices it means that finances are not a barrier to people wanting to fix or get a bike (Hoffman et al., 2014). Sean encompasses this point very well:

Sean: Our pricing is aimed at everyone being able to come in and get involved and we look at them no different to a friend, someone we want to help rather doing a job.

This inclusive environment has a several knock on effects, one of them is braking down barriers (O'Brien et al., 2011).

Braking down barriers/integration

All the interviewees mentioned the inclusivity and the diversity of people in RBK, which they consequently believe is the reason that it attracts a range of people. Groups such as book clubs or a nature conservation project tends to attract like minded people and so through no particular fault of their own they tend to be cliquey, which means that people that might be interested in joining them look in and fear that they wont fit in and they get deterred, this is unconstructive because especially in a place like Reading where there is so much diversity, there’s a need for integration. RBK caters for people in different ways, some people join solely for the learning to fix bikes, some due to a love of bicycles, some because they want to give back to the community and some for all or a combination of those reasons (Philips & Philips, 2010). And even though these individuals might have started just because of one of the motivations, they soon discover the others unexpected motivations and as well the social aspect to RBK (Henryks, 2011). Thanks to the different things that RBK has to offer, it means that different types of people are drawn in and their affection towards RBK means that they bond. These bonds are potentially new bonds that wouldn’t have been created if not for the existence of RBK (Townsend et al., 2014). These bonds are created within the volunteering force in RBK but also through the interactions that occur thanks to the face to face customer interactions.

Mariana: It brings people together who would never have met… and yeah, I’ve just met so many people

Jacques: people that I've met have varied immensely, age wise and from all different backgrounds.

20

Grey: Well I think the one thing that surprised me about it is that it is very mixed but the one thing that stands out is that there are lots of people from lots of different places, its not the sort of generic middle aged English folk you know, you’ve got young old, all sort of ages really and a lot of the customers and volunteers are not from the UK, so I think that’s a big part of Reading that benefits, a big part of the community is not the sort of native community.

Changing people’s perceptions/prejudices

RBK acting as a centre for integration (O'Brien et al., 2011) and creating bridging social capital, which means that people are made to interact with people that they wouldn’t have normally due to either there not being the opportunity or/and having preconceived prejudices which have stopped them from interacting (Aldrich & Meyer, 2015). The constant interaction with individuals from different backgrounds, allows them to get to know the individual as a person and not as preconceived idea of who they thought they were (Henryk, 2011).

Mariana: It bring people together who would never have met, otherwise, I mean, if I walked down the street, I would be scared of (name) and (name), -laughter-, I would cross the street to avoid them, laughter, I would think (name) was going to mug me and I would think (name) was a right chav, but they are not, they are lovely people, I would have never have met (name) in a million years, because I just don’t move in those circles, and yeah, I’ve just met so many people

How customers’ perceptions can also be changed as Miguel has stated:

Samuel: it can be a means for integration because you can have some people probably see foreigners in a different way, ‘oh this is here a person who is helping me’ and they probably start seeing us in a different way and its quite rewarding in both ways for the customers and the volunteers

An example of how an individual participating in RBK has led them to change their perceptions:

Graeme: there's a couple of people I can think of, one guy who I am now Facebook friends with if you look back on his Facebook posts a year or so ago before he was involved with the Bike Kitchen he was extremely xenophobic extremely xenophobic and now he's completely different, he hasn't posted very much on Facebook but you watch him helping people from all round the world and you can see an enormous change, that's a remarkable change in my opinion but many more people not so obvious as that have changed

The integration that occurs in RBK can lead to changes of people perception allowing for creation of new connections amongst the community which leads to a more cohesive community without prejudice as barriers to its interconnectivity (Henryk, 2011; Flick et al., 2002).

21

Allowing people to be altruistic

Not only is RBK braking down barriers but it is creating a platform for these individuals to be able to act in an altruistic way (Townsend et al.,2014) towards the people that they would have previously not even have associated themselves with.

Mariana: and also the homeless people, we invite quite a lot of homeless people in, and normally you would never ever invite a homeless person in but they are lovely people. Its just a very inviting atmosphere, and everyone is welcomed as long as you don’t cause trouble really. Some of them just come in for warmth and a cup of tea, some of them will use the porch to sleep, we’ll give them a little bit of tea, cake, whatever, its kind of, it has shown me how to be kind and how to be more accepting of people, not to judge a book by its cover.

Graeme: enable volunteers to help people, to provide a platform for people to volunteer and to provide skills for the volunteers

All of the interviewees value the giving aspect of RBK however several of the individuals didn’t start volunteering because of that reason. These people started volunteering not specially because of community or giving reasons but simply to learn more about their bike and how to maintain it but have immensely enjoyed that side of RBK (Townsend et al., 2014; Henryks, 2011; Flick et al., 2002). An example is Sean: started volunteering mainly to learn how to maintain his bike because he does lots of sporting events such as triathlons and in the interview he talked about how during the time RBK has been closed he has missed the giving aspect of RBK, the space it provides to fixing bikes for the community.

Sean: While its been close it has definitely been a blow not to have it because I've missed my friends, I've missed helping people, and somewhere to work on bikes in general.

RBK is a gateway to introduce people into the rewarding experience that comes from being altruistic which they might have not experienced before hand and might have never because they are not the sort of person to volunteer in general community projects (Henryk, 2011).

Mariana: introduce people to volunteering, they introduce people to helping in a very non-threatening way, sometimes when you volunteer it can be quite structured and you can have a job description and a contract, your role is this, but in the bike kitchen its relaxed

Graeme: there's a couple of people that I can think of who would never have considered volunteering if you'd asked them but they are regular volunteers

By being a shop in the middle of town it is also very accessible, so its easier for individuals to become “accidental volunteers”.

Mariana: I quite like the fact it’s a shop, its open, you don’t have to go and search it out, you walk past it. Where as with quite a lot of volunteering places you have to look for them […..]and if you’re coming in to look for a bike or a piece, you get sucked in

22

RBK acts as a player to shift people’s “personal hedonistic goals” (Martin, 2000 Pg. 143) to having more ingrained altruistic goals.

Graeme: we've provided a space for people to come and hang out has meant that those people are probably doing something that is altruistic and at the same time is benefiting them where as they would probably be doing something that was extraordinarily selfish and self centered and just by providing the hang out,

There’s lots of literature on how giving makes individuals feel useful and consequently good (Black & Living, 2004; Musick & Wilson, 2003), these individuals have experienced, in some cases maybe even being unconscious about it, and now that they have felt it they will seek it out again because they have experienced it (Townsend et al., 2014).

Grey: [RBK] it has become a super important part of my life and its such an incredible thing and I've never known anything like it, or never been part of anything like it and I’m just massively grateful that it was set up and that there are other in other places, its kind of comforting to know that hopefully I’ll never be too far from a bike kitchen

Local altruism

Altruism opportunities are already available but what sets RBK apart from other volunteering opportunities such as Oxfam is that most of the altruistic acts that the individuals involved in RBK experience, impact their immediate community. Its different to donating money to Water Aid where they tell you that those five pound will go towards a pump but the individual will never have the 100% certainty that their altruistic action has caused that. In RBK volunteers are given the opportunity to directly give their free time to help a member of their community, their altruistic efforts have an immediate result (Black & Living, 2004). With over 2500 work stands sessions being hired and 634 bicycles sold (see appendix 1), RBK is providing its volunteers a constant opportunity to interact with a customer and impact them on a daily basis.

Mariana: if their bikes has stopped working, their tyre has gone flat, instead of walking home, we got them home, so I think the importance of that can’t be diminished, just a blown up tyre would have been a huge thing for the individual

Grey: Its made me feel more connected to the town that I live in, its made me feel good, its made me feel useful, made me feel like I've got something to offer to the community. It gives you a platform to be able to help people and be able to share the knowledge you’ve gained so when someone comes in and they are in a bit of a flap because they’ve got a flat tyre or their chain has fallen off, its nice to be able to say to them just relax, calm down we can help you, have a cup of tea everything will be ok kind of thing.

Jeanne: Another thing with what roles the initiative plays, not just cycling but actually mending your own bike, that was a real... for me personally and I’ve seen it with a few customers just realising with a bit of support ‘I can do things that I found really difficult or

23

impossible’, so that gives you confidence to do more and do things you don't know how to do. It connects people up I think.

Jeanne: I mean I stick around because I find it a really fulfilling thing to do. Whenever I go there, whether I spend the time emptying the bins or cleaning shit out of the vestibule or I learn to fix something on my bike or a customer goes away really happy, it doesn't really matter.

Support network

Volunteers start of volunteering because they think that it’s a good idea and a good way to spend their free time. That’s the initial hook, the reasons for why they stay are greater than they anticipate. All of the volunteers have experienced this, much like in Henryks (2011) unexpected outcomes, and Sean stated on getting involved:

Sean: Popped in one day and Graeme was the first person I spoke to explained about the volunteering, went in one Tuesday and went on from there. A combination of wanting to do something good and learning how to fix a bike, its been so much more than that, the friends I've made, I didn’t anticipate that side.

Vulnerable

There are three different ways in which RBK is contributing to helping to reduce the vulnerability of Reading, one providing a safe and welcoming place for people who want to become part of a community due to not having their own due to Reading being an urban town (Henryks, 2011; Black & Living, 2004).

Mariana: community, I think in a town like Reading you can get very isolated, I have to say actually, around my area I have no idea who my neighbours are [..] there’s a community there and I think the bike kitchen gives that community to the people who would normally not have it

And two providing affordable services and resources to people who want to fix their bikes and depend on that bike. Three collaborating with other organisations to provide our services of resources, both physical in the way of bikes and tools and also knowledge resources. Examples are collaborations with Launchpad and Reading City of Sanctuary as can be seen in image 6 & 7. Image 7, the thank you note from a LaunchPad client shows how RBK is increasing social bonding capital through facilitating him to be able to visit his family (Adler & Kwon, 2002). Launchpad happens once a week on a Wednesday. RBK doesn’t just stick to events to give a helping hand to the vulnerable, it does this daily through waving off work stand fees for people who can't afford it, through inviting in homeless individuals for a cup of tea and warmth, I have also observed RBK getting to know a homeless lady who didn’t own a bike and getting her to chose the bike that she wants and then helping her fix it.

24

I noticed that the people who say that they’ve benefited immensely from RBK are also people who have described themselves to have been in a bad place when they joined RBK or are without a community of their own and have found one in RBK.

Vulnerable volunteers

When individuals are down its very difficult to make plans because they don’t know how they are going to feel consequently they can tend to end up even more isolated at a time that they need the most support, RBK is “gold” in these cases because like Jeanne puts it “It's always there you don't have to organise anything.” Also due to its loose structure it means that there are no strict requirements and different roles are available (Henryks, 2011), this freedom allows vulnerable individuals to not feel pressure on how much of themselves they should be contributing to the initiative (O'Brien et al., 2011). Working on a bicycle also means that its easy to immerse themselves in a task that is not too requiring of them, the worksheet allows for them to fix as much or as little of a bike as they want/can.

Image 6 - RBK collaborating with Reading City of Sanctuary

25

Furthermore, volunteering in RBK increases their sense of belonging and their sense of place in the Reading community (Townsend et al. (2014).

Nearly all of the volunteers mentioned on how RBK provides a support network and Grey and Jeanne stated:

Grey: There’s people that I have made friends with and you get chatting , there’s some people that have got some really difficult things going on in their life, being children moving away or relatives passing away, it’s a struggle for them to deal with it and you know and they say that it’s a real benefit for them to come down like the bike kitchen, somewhere where they can chat to people who don’t really know much about them and there’s no pressure to be anybody in particular or to do anything in particular and they can focus on doing one little job or whatever they want to do and it can give them that little bit of an escape whilst its being quite a constructive way to do that and I think as well that’s just how it affects some of the volunteers

Jeanne: A lot of great people at the kitchen so there's support, people just... If you don't know many people in Reading, most of my friends are in Southampton but I feel as if there is a network of people in Reading if I needed help

RBK as a community

RBK set out to provide a service to the community in the way of helping them help themselves on fixing their bikes. It became so popular that it gathered unprecedented number of volunteers, these volunteers have bonded over the passion that they have for the initiative, these bonds have become friendships (Henryks, 2011; O’Brien et al., 2011). Consequently, RBK has created a community of its own. This community acts as a support network for its customers but also the individuals that are involved (Black & Living, 2004).

Sean: its been so much more than that, the friends I've made I didn’t anticipate that side … RBK is a community and everyone goes there because they want to, they love going there, no one gets paid or anything

Jeanne: A lot of great people at the kitchen so there's support most of my friends are in Southampton but I feel as if there is a network of people in Reading if I needed help. I enjoy spending time with the people.

Billie, Sean, Grey, Jeanne, Sam and Ramona are all volunteers that started off as customers but liked the project and wanted to carry on being part of RBK that they became volunteers.

Jeanne: I just thought it was ... that was the trigger, needed to use the bike kitchen and was bowled over by what a fantastic idea it was and it's really close to where I live. Even on that first visit I said 'Can I volunteer?' you know 'what's the deal and can I volunteer?' and that was that. It was a no-brainer.

Billie: I needed to use it so I was a customer […] And they roped me in and I never left.

Grey “heard about the bike kitchen... seeked it out and I went down there to work on my bike and ended up helping out! I was a customer first and I just thought that it was such a good

26

service that they are offering and it’d been a while since I had done anything with tools and that hands on kind of style and I thought oh this people seem really nice and they are all really friendly and I kind of said well I definitely come back and help out if I can and came back less than a week later, turned up to volunteer and it went on from there really.

Samuel: I came here as a customer […] enjoyed it a lot, enjoyed the environment and the next Tuesday I came in for the induction and I signed up as a volunteer and its quite rewarding I have to say.

Others were simply curious about who was in Jacksons:

Jacques: I didn’t make the conscious decision really to join it, it kind of just happened

Mariana on joining: connected to it then Graeme got hold of me and I never left

Having RBK as a community is important because like 11 out of the 15 interviewees mentioned, it’s a space where you can de-stress after a hard day, a place where you’re always welcomed and you can undertake an activity that is constructive and enjoyable (Henryks, 2011).

Sean: If you’ve had a crap day you go there and see familiar faces. Makes a difference to every day life. Three times a week to at least once a week. Longest I went without going to RBK has probably been two weeks.

Grey: offers people a place to go and not just people who want to fix bikes but people that come down and do the accounts, people who just want to come down and hang out, offers a place for people to hang out and feel like they are part of something

Overall for the community to benefit, the volunteers that make it happen also have to benefit Townsend et al. (2014). RBK does this through; empowerment through learning and teaching, giving and getting instant gratification of the impact that they are having on individuals, and finally benefiting from being part of the RBK community which provides socialising and more crucial, a support network (Measham & Barnett, 2007; Black & Living, 2004).

Jeanne: One of the things the kitchen does for me is forces me to be more sociable, I’m not completely unsociable but I am comfortable at the kitchen … I mean I stick around because I find it a really fulfilling thing to do … come home with a big sense of achievement

Vulnerable customers

RBK caters to marginalised groups of the community as well as economically vulnerable customers. They do this through low prices, further discounts, sometimes giving things away for free such as free puncture repair supplies and waving fees away to people who can’t afford even the nominal fee of £4 the first hour and £2 any after. Through its inclusive nature RBK has the capability to reach out and help where help is needed.

Graeme: I mean its accessible to anyone which is the beautiful thing about a bicycle, you only just need have a bicycle to access it, you don't actually even need to HAVE one to access one,

27

we've never studied our demographics, we do get lots of students, we do get lots of very poor people, we do get quite a lot of people from minority various ethnic minorities

Sean: Our pricing is aimed at everyone being able to come in and get involved and we look at them no different to a friend, someone we want to help rather doing a job.

Mariana: I suppose to increase cycling, to give something back to the community […] It offers the community a service, offers bike repair services, bike maintenance services when there are none, it offers them at a cheap price, it offers you to teach you a skill, it offers fun, it offers cake specially when I’m there!, it offers a laugh and good times and relax and it doesn’t assume that you know anything about bikes, it wants to teach you, its friendly.

My own observation:

December 2015:Co-operative worker, broken breaks, came in when we were closing, showed him what was wrong and fixed it, it required a tool he didn’t have immediate access to if RBK didn’t exist, when RBK was closed he asked when are we opening again a minimum of four times and as soon as we were open he was in with his bike that needed a new tyre.

28 May 2016:Overheard a customer on fixing his bike: “Crucial if I want to get to work”

Those are the ways that RBK helps vulnerable customers on a day to day basis, however they also reduce the vulnerability of the Reading community. One ways is that they provide opportunities through running the Earn-a-Bike scheme with Launchpad for people who are homeless or have been, and the impact that it has can be seen in image 7. RBK’s attributes has meant that an individual from the LVS Hassocks felt that RBK was an ideal place to put his skills to practice and gain confidence with customer interactions (O'Brien et al.,2011; Black & Living, 2004).

“Rhys noticed the Reading Bicycle Kitchen and decided it was the perfect place to make use of his talents and work more on his social and communication skills being developed at school by working in a customer-facing environment.”

(LVS Hassocks, 2016)

28

“Dear Graeme and the Bicycle Kitchen, Many many thanks for the bicycle through Launchpad. Because of that bicycle, I was able to spend time with all my family (they live 7 miles apart) on Christmas Day. There were no public transport services running. This meant an awful lot to me, and I blessed you and smiled as I cycled along. So THANK YOU! YOUR WORK MEANT AN AWFUL LOT TO ME ON THAT DAY! Best wishes,S”

29

Empowering the customer:

Teaching is the reason that RBK started, they teach the customers, the teach scout groups, LaunchPad individuals and new unexperienced volunteers as it can be observed in image 8. Fixing your own bike is simpler and more rewarding than individuals realise even though the task may seem daunting. By coming into RBK, these individuals are made to realise of their own capabilities (Cox, 2010; Hoffman et al., 2014). Allowing them to be more self sufficient which has many psychological and physical consequences. A very simple example is that now that they know how to fix a puncture or replace an inner tube they are more likely to go on longer rides without the fear of being stranded due to their new found confidence in their capability of fixing their own bike (Henryks, 2011; Horton et al., 2012; Black & living, 2004).

Grey: I think the biggest impact it has is on the customers, you know, when someone comes in they don’t know how to do something, they are clueless and have never held a spanner before and you can say to them right you can take this and what you need to do is do this and tighten that and this affects that and they can, they’ll leave at the end of the day and they’ll have a big grin on their face and say I've learnt something, next time this goes wrong I can do it myself, Jeanne: Another thing with what roles the initiative plays, not just cycling but actually mending your own bike, that was a real... for me personally and I’ve seen it with a few

Image 8 - Teaching in action in RBK, as well as refurbished wheels (taken from RBK twitter)

30

customers just realising with a bit of support I can do things that I found really difficult or impossible, so that gives you confidence to do more and do things you don't know how to do.

Everyone in RBK understand the value and benefits of cycling and they want to pass this on, through their teaching and their enthusiasm because they believe in RBK, through teaching and sharing that how they empower the customer.

Jeanne: I love cycling so everyone else has to as well (laughs).

Annie: I've always used a bicycle as a mode of transport, for very short distances its nearly always the fasted way to do it and its free

Empowering the volunteer:

Through the interaction of teaching customers and new volunteers, the volunteer is improving their bike skills. As well as this, they are gaining new skills such as customer service. All this boost the individual’s confidence (Henryks, 2011).

Sean: the other thing I like is interacting with the people who come, people skills. Its helped me be more confident with strangers so that’s another plus.

The massive sense of achievement when they fix a bike with no peddles and non functioning breaks, gets put on the window to sell and moments after someone comes along and buys it. This now means that a previously unloved bike is now transporting an individual about town thanks to the unpaid work that the individual undertook (O’Brien et al., 2011). And whilst that individual fixed that bike, their skills improved, they might have also learned a new skill for a problem they hadn’t previously encountered (Henryks, 2011).

Jeanne: Like I say it's very positive on me personally in the short term it's an uplifting thing to do but it's also provoked a lot of thought around what's worth doing in life, how you can make the most of your time and whether we should focus so much time on making money

Need for RBK

Grey: not everyone is at the same level time wise or financially and there’s always going to be people that cant necessarily afford to go to a bike shop or don’t necessarily have the skills or the functionality to teach themselves to do things, so I think its necessary to have somewhere for those people to go [RBK]

What Grey says about the necessity for a place like RBK echoes what other volunteer have said when talking about the kitchen in general, however when asked directly if there’s a need they are hesitant and sometimes reject the notion that there’s a need because they say how we could survive without it, however if I had asked them if there was need of RBK as part of a way of building community resilience I think they would have said yes due to the fact that they have described factors that RBK provides which are needed to build community resilience such as: access to resources, support networks, empowerment and

31

helping the vulnerable when describing RBK. I feel like I would need to ask the community, people who aren’t involved with RBK but benefit from it to get a clearer bigger picture of how the community outside of the volunteers perceive and value it in a different way to that of the people involved in the initiative due to the fact that the volunteers are so immersed in the project and the work that they do for it that they might be undervaluing their service towards the community and its greater impacts, more invisible impacts, passed those of simply fixing bikes and selling them.

Graeme: difficult for me to look at it objectively from a community point of view

Grey: and those people that do rely on it will be hard pushed over the time that its closed.

Getting qualitative data on the impact that RBK has is important for when applying for council grants or putting a proposal forward for one of the unused council owned properties because even though RBK get very good feedback from the community, it would be good to gather evidence for such purposes. Appendices 2 shows a snapshot of the what the customers think of RBK.

Masters student – I've used the bike kitchen at least three times and it’s a really awesome idea because its cheap and I’m also learning how to fix my own bike, each time that I've gone I've used up the whole three hours because I’m enjoying it so much and I end up fixing other little things. [what would you have done if RBK didn’t exist] I would have to pay someone to do and be a lot more grumpy because shop prices are a bare minimum of twenty pounds and I wouldn’t have learnt how to do it myself.

Due to Reading being an urban area, with people that move in and out sometimes people are here for short periods and if RBK didn’t exist, providing its affordable and convenient services, people might not bother to buy a bike because it would seem like too much hassle.

Billie: you haven’t got a bike and you need to get around, these are the customers

RBK has the potential to create new cycling fans. And if every city had a Bicycle Kitchen that has the same principles as RBK then it would be affordable and convenient (Pucher & Buelher, 2008) for people to continue cycling through out their life time. The bike has to become more convenient that the car for individuals to choose it. An appreciation for the convenience and fun that a bike can provide needs to be developed so that it becomes a social norm as a main way of transport, such is the case in other cities such as Amsterdam and Copenhagen (Cox, 2010).

32

RBK promoting a more sustainable lifestyle

Image 9 - Customer bikes on the rail and the rest are donated bikes

Getting people on bikes:

Cycling is the most efficient and inexpensive way to get from door to door, the more people take up cycling the more likely they are going to undertake journeys with their bikes instead of a car or a bus, consequently reducing their CO2 footprint (Evans, 2011). As well as reducing the level of traffic on roads and as Donald Appleyard has shown traffic has correlation on the interconnectivity amongst geographical communities such as streets. The benefits of cycling don’t just perforate into the community and environment but also for the individual. Not only can it be a fun and inexpensive mode of transport, due to the fact that its based on physical activity it means that it has various benefits, such as physical and mental health (Ahn and Fedewa, 2011; Nelson and Gordon-Larsen, 2006 cited in Hoffman et al, 2014. Hence by getting member of the community to engage with more physical activity, we are creating a healthier community due to their vulnerability being lowered. Because if people are healthier they are come capable to deal with disturbances and they are less likely to be physically and mentally ill hence there’s less of a chance for them to miss work, it allows them to be more capable on a day to day basis. Also some studies have shown that physical activity can increase the academic achievement (Fedewa and Soyeon, 2011 cited in Hoffman et al., 2014), which increases the capacity of individuals.

33

Jeanne: I just think cycling is great. It's good for your health, it's good for the environment. Good for the environment in terms of pollutants but also good for the environment as it's nicer to walk around in a town where people are cycling rather than driving.

Ramona: advertising the healthy way of living and what else keeping the environment this dirty stuff carbon dioxide and also cycling because in general our activities is not only donations from people that don’t want their bike but it could be bikes that nobody wants them from the rubbish and they are being fixed and made useful instead of being put in landfill

All of the interviewees frequently mentioned promoting cycling, selling bikes affordably to increase the number of people on bikes and providing a service to make it cheap, easy and convenient for individuals to stay on bikes. As it can be seen in image 9, the community have been very forthcoming in donating bicycles to RBK. From my observations of customers if they can’t fix a puncture or wobbly seat, it can be sufficient inconvenience to wheel it to a shop that they put it off and get on their car.

Personal anecdote: Customer brought in a very dusty bike, which due it having a puncture he had left in his company’s garage, he started commuting by car but remembers how much he used to enjoy cycling into work so he brought it in to get it back on the road and learn how to fix a puncture so that it didn’t happen again. (September 2015)

Spoken about previously, RBK is playing a part in increasing social cohesion which studies have shown that low levels can inhibit physical activity (Kimbro and Schanchter, 2011; Giles-Corti and Donovan, 2002 cited in Hoffman et al., 2014).

Jacques: I think the main aims are to get people cycling, get people who have bicycles but are not using them back on the road, to promote cycling and all the things that go with cycling such as health and social aspects so there’s a lot that goes with that

Jeanne: [cycling] it brings a culture of ... more of a local culture.. it brings a scale down to a community

As discussed in vulnerable customers’ section, RBK’s main aim is to get people cycling regardless of their economic standing. By providing second hand bikes which are road worthy they are making it accessible to people on low income (Bijker, 1997). Furthermore, the interviewees have highlighted how many of RBK customers use their bicycle as a means of travel, not for leisure.

Breaking down the barriers to cycling

Reducing fear of traffic by riding in a big group new cyclist get more confidence for cycling on roads (Henryks, 2011), which is a big barrier (Horton et al., 2012; Hoffman et al., 2014). Also by seeing regular people on regular bikes getting about town, it acts as example to the other, as fear of looking silly, people’s image self consciousness acts as barrier as well (Horton et al., 2012).

34

Provision/Sharing of resources:

Its much more environmentally friendly to have one set of tools in a town rather than everyone doing so, and now even for inexpensive bikes the tools needed to fix a bike are getting more complex and extensive, consequently having your own set might not be affordable.

Annie: it just seems like a great idea to have a place specially now bikes now are more and more complicated specialist part even on a non expensive bike you know, you want to do certain jobs and you haven't got the tool or the parts that are needed so if you go into a Bicycle Kitchen everyone’s there it's not expensive and there’s somebody there to help you

Image 10 - Access to affordable second hand parts

35

Second hand parts

Triage of non usable bikes happens on a Friday, bikes get stripped and everything from bolts to forks gets put in the second hand section of the shop. Things that are beyond repair or use such as heavily damaged rear mechanisms and seats with chucks of foam missing go into the scrap room, which when there’s enough quantity a van from Bikes for Africa comes (Cooperative in Ghana, 2014). Part of the stock of second hand part that RBK has can be seen in images 4 & 5. And through these activities RBK is helping the Reading community be more environmentally friendly (Townsend et al. 2014) but also influencing its members as Sean has highlighted:

Sean: Apart from the obvious of wanting to fix bikes, learning from Graeme and other volunteers how to do so, I guess trying to become a better person, like I was saying about the environmental thing, recycling, cycling more rather than driving, I guess its just made me make more of an effort.

A space for innovation

RBK provides a space for innovation for two groups, one is the volunteers and the other is the Reading community.

During weekly volunteer meeting, issues are placed in the agenda either via emailing ahead of the meeting or by being present in the meeting. Volunteers sit in a circle and people take a turn in saying their name and then it goes round again and people can raise questions or bring things to attention, this as well as things that the directors want to discussed are brought up one by one in an open discussion. Here the opportunity of solving problem arises and coupled with the loose and empowering environment that RBK has created it allows people to not only be able to act out of their own accord, acting out of their agency, but also to want to (Magis, 2010).

Jeanne: It's a lot more anarchic, there is structure but it's loose, there's a lot more freedom. Because of the lack of structure anyone can have an idea and make it happen … they haven't done it because the boss has told them they've done it off their own back. It's one of the things that makes the volunteers come back, you don't get bossed around, you go there to give.

Mariana: Sometimes when you volunteer it can be quite structured and you can have a job description and a contract, your role is this, but in the bike kitchen its relaxed

Billie: Mmh what else do we offer, we are open minded so people can come an air an idea and try something out.

Examples:

Graham (75/80 – age) saw the potential usefulness of having teaching aids as a tool, instead of having to use the whole bike when only one component wants to be taught. He has made

36

two already, images 11 & 12, and he plans to make more. They are well made and they facilitate getting to understand the mechanics of a bicycle.

Due to RBK’s aim to act as a recycling centre, they accept any bicycle donation from members of the Reading community no matter its state, consequently over time there had been an accumulation of bikes that were deemed relatively unfit for refurbishing. Previously the value for steel and aluminium meant that it was a good solution and however prices dropped and pile of bikes got bigger, it was raised in the volunteer meeting, bicycle forks were given to a local artist who was going to make sculptures however this wasn’t enough. Grenville came back to the next meeting having had contact with the people from Bicycle Charity (Re-Cycle) who send bikes to Africa. This was organised and at 11am on a weekday volunteers loaded a van with bicycles as seen in image 13.

Another example are Jacques’s creations with bikes, he has built moving legs on a bike to advertise RBK on the window, he has repurposed wheels and bits of scrap bike to create wall clocks and for building a scale that was needed to weigh the £2 recycling bags.

Image 21 - Teaching display of inner workings of a wheel hub

37

Image 12 - Teaching display of rear and front gears

Image 13 - Altruistic solution to give a new lease of life to bikes that can’t be sold in the UK (taken from RBK twitter)

38

Reading community

A space for innovation for the community because anyone can come in with an idea and propose it to RBK, if its within reason they would be granted the opportunity. The reason for this is two fold, one is the people in RBK wanting to create opportunities for the community and two its that it has the space/premises to offer.

Billie: All all, I mean you know artists that come to use this space have been able to do so much, Calais have been able to grow what they sending stuff down to Calais and how they run. Its, if you’ve got an idea then people can come to us and ask us “can we do this here?” and you couldn’t walk into a state agency and do that

Ramona: Well I think that about Jacksons corner is that its like a glue, without RBK I think the connection between the shops wouldn’t be as good (jelly etc.) and about the community here in reading I think that people love RBK.

Limitations of RBK

Premises

Through the interviews when asked what they thought was the reason behind RBK’s success, they unanimously said the people and the premises (Jacksons), some putting heavier influence on premises specially in regard to scale of the impact on the greater community of Reading due to footfall and space. A volunteer described that without the physical premise RBK was loose community

Jeanne: Closing down has demonstrated that acting as a pop up wouldn't work as well.

Graeme: (laughter) partly the location, I think Jacksons has made an enormous difference

The effect of increasing community resilience is very much fragile due to the consequence of not having a permanent location, which creates various implication.

Literature shows that in community projects having a permanent location is important because it allows/inspires people to invest much more of their and resources into the project (Schmelzkopf, 1995 cited in Boyd & Folke, 2012). This has been mirrored in my observation, in for example the hesitation to invest into things that can’t then be taken to a new location such as painting the display windows so as to make RBK look more pleasant and inviting.

Due to the prime location in the center of town, it meant that RBK has excellent footfall which means that lots of bicycles are sold which means that lots of revenue is made thus so far RBK hasn’t had much money worries, however this is not the norm, as one of the directors reflects in the interview:

39

Graeme: RBK is a completely unique thing, its just completely unique, I've never experienced anything like it, I don't know, I know other people that are involved in Bike Kitchens but they have horrendous problems running them because of the finance, thats a big focus for them and they are having to go for a grant every year or repeatedly looking for external help to run their projects, we have just been really really lucky which is having Jacksons

The focus to keep the project going will mean that finances will have to be tighter and priorities will shift from “we can do anything” to a more realistic and money driven focus, as Graeme explains:

Graeme: what happened is that if we take premises in commercial rents our project will have to change we will have to have someone to finance director, we don't have a finance director at the moment, we will have to account for our money a lot more carefully than we do now, our resources will change but also the way we look at giving stuff to people, it'll be hang on a minute, it will change, it won't be as altruistic as it is now.

Chapter Four

Implications and recommendations

Through my research I have highlighted how successful a bike kitchen can be, the capability of having widespread benefits on its community with relatively little investment (Steinbach et al., 2011). How it relies on volunteering capital (Townsend et al., 2014) and donations from the public. In the literature of sustainable transport, in regards to cycling and how to increase it due to health, social and environmental impacts (Hoffman et al., 2014; Boogaard et al., 2010; Cox, 2010; Bijker, 1997; Sælensminde, 2004; Steinbach et al., 2011) journal papers talk about addressing the issue through congestion charges and infrastructure, they however don’t mention the impact and value that grassroots initiatives can have. That is not say that investment in infrastructure isn’t needed but more that a combination of both top-down and bottom-up approaches are necessary if there is to be a paradigm change towards a cycling culture (Pucher & Buehler, 2008). However, the impact that green initiatives can have are threatened by high overhead costs, such as rent and business rates. Consequently, I would urge local councils to see the true social and environmental benefits of green initiatives and to facilitate and support their existence through helping them obtain a permanent premise (Schmelzkopf, 1995 cited in Boyd & Folke, 2012), through facilitating access to a brown building site or with a grant for an appropriate property, as well as easy access to reduced business rates.

Conclusion

RBK started off so as to provide affordable access to tools and knowledge for people to maintain their bicycles and ride them because they believed in the sustainable power that a bike represents and they believed in a collaborative community as a way to provide these services regardless of wealth, gender, age, background or social status so that people have access to the tools and expertise that need. At the beginning they had thought that they would get a handful of volunteers and their one objective was to serve the community through DIY bike maintenance. They didn’t anticipate that it would grow to the size that it is

40

now and that it would benefit so many. Not only is it serving the community through providing accessible bike repairs and maintenance but it has also created a community in itself, filling a gap in a potentially isolating town.

The aims of my research was to asses how RBK was impacting the community and if through these actions community resilience is being built. Firstly, RBK is providing what has been described as a unique service to the Reading community, it is also providing it in a very accessible way through its non-threating approach which welcomes all levels (Cox, 2010) and low prices, this means that novices have a starting place to learn and it is also accessible to marginalised individuals. They are also providing bicycles to people who can’t afford to buy one, in the form of the Earn-A-Bike scheme, as well as giving bicycles to refugees. They have been active in the community through reaching out to other groups and offering them retail space for nominal fees, this strengthens the ties and creates new ties within the community (Ozanne & Ozanne, 2016). Secondly it has created a community for its volunteers and a space for innovation and introducing individuals to the benefits of altruistic actions (Townsend et al., 2014; Lum & Lightfoot, 2005).

RBK is building resilience in three main ways. One, is is creating a community to those who might not have had one; two it provides services to the general Reading community; and three it increases the cohesion within Reading.

Resilience in the literature is sometimes criticised for not tackling the root cause of environmental problems (Brown, 2014) but instead learning hot to cope with them, such as flood response community projects that adapt and consequently learn to cope with the effects of climate change and hence the risk is adverted which means that they are not forced to change/shift in a more fundamental way. RBK is increasing the community resilience whilst also tackling important issue such as sustainable transport, recycling, getting people into environmental volunteering and increasing their sense of place which increase their environmental citizenship. Increasing the sense of place is important specially in a town that is transient and expanding. Reading is at threat of becoming, as a lot of the volunteers described it, as soulless without the input of initiatives such as RBK. Establishing a sense of place is important because as the literature has shown people that care for the place that they inhabit are more likely to be stakeholders and participate in its governance (Townsend et al., 2014).

Finally, RBK has also shown to contribute to braking down barriers which increases the cohesion of the community and allows for interconnectivity, which means that information is shared better and individuals have the capacity to get together and solve problems in a more efficient and equitable way (Biggs et al., 2015; Patterson et al., 2010). In other terms the links within the networks with the community, bridging social capital, are increased and the existing ones are strengthened, which means that they can accomplish more together (Henryks, 2011) and be more resilient as a community (Ozanne & Ozanne, 2016). And like Cox, (2010, p95) states:

“Cities are continually changing, dynamic products and expressions of human collective and activity”

41

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my dissertation advisor Professor Emily Boyd for introducing me into a field of work that I want to pursue and everyone in the Reading Bicycle Kitchen for

welcoming me with open arms and teaching me and helping me so much. I would also like to thank Dr Steve Musson for supervising my dissertation throughout the writing process and Dr Steve Gurney for his invaluable support. And everyone else who has supported me

one way or another.

42

References

Adler, P.S. & Kwon, S. 2002, "Social Capital: Prospects for a New Concept", The Academy of Management Review, vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 17-40.

Aldrich, D.P. & Meyer, M.A. 2015, "Social Capital and Community Resilience", American Behavioral Scientist, vol. 59, no. 2, pp. 254-269.

Anonymous 2014, "Physically disabled run successful bicycle cooperative in Ghana", Appropriate Technology, vol. 41, no. 1, pp. 63.

Appleyard, D., Gerson, M.S. and Lintell, M. 1981, "Livable Streets" Univ of California Press.

Bassett Jr, D.R., Pucher, J., Buehler, R., Thompson, D.L. & Crouter, S.E. 2011, "Active transportation and obesity in Europe, North America, and Australia", ITE Journal (Institute of Transportation Engineers), vol. 81, no. 8, pp. 24-28.

Biggs, R., Schlüter, M. and Schoon, M.L. eds., 2015. "Principles for building resilience: sustaining ecosystem services in social-ecological systems", Cambridge University Press.

Bijker, W. (1995). Of bicycles, bakelites, and bulbs. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.bikecollective.org., 2016, "Community Bicycle Organizarions". [online] Available at: https://www.bikecollectives.org/wiki/index.php?title=Community_Bicycle_Organizations [Accessed 27/08/2016]

Black, W. & Living, R. 2004, "Volunteerism as an Occupation and its Relationship to Health and Wellbeing", The British Journal of Occupational Therapy, vol. 67, no. 12, pp. 526-532.

Boyd, E., Folke, C., Stockholms universitet & Stockholm Resilience Centre 2011;2012;, Adapting Institutions : Governance, Complexity and Social-Ecological Resilience, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Breitbart, M. 2nd eds., 2010. "Key Methods in Geography", SAGE.

Brown, K. 2014, "Global environmental change I: A social turn for resilience?", Progress in Human Geography, vol. 38, no. 1, pp. 107-117.

Carson, R., 2002. Silent spring. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

CASTELLS, M. 2006, "Changer la Ville: A Rejoinder", International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 219-223.

Cervero, R., Sarmiento, O.L., Jacoby, E., Gomez, L.F. & Neiman, A. 2009, "Influences of Built Environments on Walking and Cycling: Lessons from Bogotá", International Journal of Sustainable Transportation, vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 203-226.

43

Chapman, L. 2007, "Transport and climate change: a review", Journal of Transport Geography, vol. 15, no. 5, pp. 354-367.

Cope, M. 2nd eds., 2010. "Key Methods in Geography", SAGE.

Cox, P. 2010, Moving People : Sustainable Transport Development, 1st edn, Zed Books, London. Cycling and Society 2012, Ashgate, Abingdon, GB.

Crang, M. 2005, “Analysing qualitative materials” in Flowerdew R, Martin D, Eds. Methods in Human Geography: a Guide for Students Doing a Research Project, Second Edition, Harlow: Prentice Hall, pp218-232

Dagdeviren, H., Donoghue, M. & Promberger, M. 2016, "Resilience, Hardship and Social Conditions", JOURNAL OF SOCIAL POLICY, vol. 45, no. 1, pp. 1-20.

De Vos, J., Derudder, B., Van Acker, V. & Witlox, F. 2012, "Reducing car use: Changing attitudes or relocating? The influence of residential dissonance on travel behavior", Journal of Transport Geography, vol. 22, pp. 1-9.

emBRACE (2015). The emBRACE Framework of Community Disaster Resilience, (Policy brief), EU project emBRACE Consortium, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.

England, K.V., 2008, "Getting personal: Reflexivity, positionality, and feminist research", Critical geographies: A collection of readings, pp.241-256.environment.nationalgeographic.com, 2016, "Bicycle Buying Guide" [online] at: http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/green-guide/buying-guides/bikes/environmental-impact/ [Accessed 30/08/2016]

Evans, M. 2011, How bad are bananas?: the carbon footprint of everything, American Library Association dba CHOICE, Middletown.

Flick, M., Doyle, J. and Bittman, M. 2002. "The Community's Most Valuable (hidden) Asset-", Volunteering in Australia. Social Policy Research Centre, University of New South Wales.

Folke, C. 2006, "Resilience: The emergence of a perspective for social–ecological systems analyses", Global Environmental Change, vol. 16, no. 3, pp. 253-267.

Furness, Z., 2010, "One less car: Bicycling and the politics of automobility", Temple University Press.

GROGAN, P. 2008, Recycling bicycles, The Irish Times Ltd, Dublin, Ireland.

Harris, M. & Young, P. 2009, "Developing community and social cohesion through grassroots bridge-building: an exploration", Policy & Politics, vol. 37, no. 4, pp. 517-534.

Heinen, E. 2011, Bicycle Commuting, Ios Press, NL.

44

Henryks, J. 2011, "Changing the menu: rediscovering ingredients for a successful volunteer experience in school kitchen gardens", Local Environment, vol. 16, no. 6, pp. 569-583.

Hoffman, M.F., Hayes, S. & Napolitano, M.A. 2014, "Urban Youths’ Experiences and Perceptions of a Community Cycling Initiative", Urban Studies, vol. 51, no. 2, pp. 300-318.

Holling, C.S. 1973, "Resilience and Stability of Ecological Systems", Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 1-23.

Horton, D., Rosen, P. & Cox, P. 2007;2016;2012;, Cycling and Society, Ashgate Publishing Ltd, GB.

Hurlbert, J.S., Haines, V.A. & Beggs, J.J. 2000, "Core networks and tie activation: What kinds of routine networks allocate resources in nonroutine situations?", American Sociological Review, vol. 65, no. 4, pp. 598.

IPCC Climate Change 2007: Synthesis Report Summary for Policymakers 2008.

Jeroen Johan de Hartog, Boogaard, H., Nijland, H. & Hoek, G. 2010, "Do the Health Benefits of Cycling Outweigh the Risks?", Environmental Health Perspectives, vol. 118, no. 8, pp. 1109-1116.

Librett, J., Yore, M.M., Buchner, D.M. & Schmid, T.L. 2005, "Take Pride in America's Health: Volunteering as a Gateway to Physical Activity", American Journal of Health Education, vol. 36, no. 1, pp. 8.

Longhursrt, R. 2nd eds., 2010. "Key Methods in Geography", SAGE.

Lovelace, R., Beck, S.B.M., Watson, M. & Wild, A. 2011, "Assessing the energy implications of replacing car trips with bicycle trips in Sheffield, UK", Energy Policy, vol. 39, no. 4, pp. 2075-2087.

Lum, T.Y. & Lightfoot, E. 2005, "The Effects of Volunteering on the Physical and Mental Health of Older People", Research on Aging, vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 31-55.

lvs-hassocks.org.uk, 2015, "Learner Leads Berkshire Bike Revolution" [online] at: http://www.lvs-hassocks.org.uk/news/2015/12/learner_leads_berkshire_bike_revolution [Accessed 15/08/2016]

Magis, K. 2010, "Community Resilience: An Indicator of Social Sustainability", Society & Natural Resources, vol. 23, no. 5, pp. 401-416.

Measham, T.G. & Barnett, G.B. 2008, "Environmental Volunteering: motivations, modes and outcomes", Australian Geographer, vol. 39, no. 4, pp. 537-552.

Musick, M.A. & Wilson, J. 2003, "Volunteering and depression: the role of psychological and

45

social resources in different age groups", Social Science & Medicine, vol. 56, no. 2, pp. 259-269.

O'Brien, L., Burls, A., Townsend, M. & Ebden, M. 2011, "Volunteering in nature as a way of enabling people to reintegrate into society", Perspectives in Public Health, vol. 131, no. 2, pp. 71-81.

Ozanne, L. & Ozanne, J.L. 2016, "How alternative consumer markets can build community resiliency", European Journal of Marketing, vol. 50, no. 3-4.

Patterson, O., Weil, F. & Patel, K. 2010, "The Role of Community in Disaster Response: Conceptual Models", Population Research and Policy Review, vol. 29, no. 2, pp. 127-141.

Patterson, O., Weil, F. & Patel, K. 2010, "The Role of Community in Disaster Response: Conceptual Models", Population Research and Policy Review, vol. 29, no. 2, pp. 127-141.

Pfadenhauer, M. & Grenz, T. 2015, "Uncovering the Essence: The Why and How of Supplementing Observation with Participation in Phenomenology-Based Ethnography", JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY ETHNOGRAPHY, vol. 44, no. 5, pp. 598-616.

Phillips, L.C. & Phillips, M.H. 2010, "Volunteer motivation and reward preference: an empirical study of volunteerism in a large, not-for-profit organization", SAM Advanced Management Journal, vol. 75, no. 4, pp. 12.

Pooley, C.G., Horton, D., Scheldeman, G., Mullen, C., Jones, T., Tight, M., Jopson, A. & Chisholm, A. 2013, "Policies for promoting walking and cycling in England: A view from the street", Transport Policy, vol. 27, pp. 66-72.

Pooley, C.G., Horton, D., Scheldeman, G., Tight, M., Jones, T., Chisholm, A., Harwatt, H. & Jopson, A. 2011, "Household decision-making for everyday travel: A case study of walking and cycling in Lancaster (UK)", Journal of Transport Geography, vol. 19, no. 6, pp. 1601-1607.

Pucher, J. & Buehler, R. 2008, "Making Cycling Irresistible: Lessons from The Netherlands, Denmark and Germany", Transport Reviews, vol. 28, no. 4, pp. 495-528.

Pucher, J., Dill, J. & Handy, S. 2010, "Infrastructure, programs, and policies to increase bicycling: An international review", Preventive Medicine, vol. 50, pp. S106-S125.

Rojas-Rueda, D., de Nazelle, A., Teixidó, O. & Nieuwenhuijsen, M.J. 2012, "Replacing car trips by increasing bike and public transport in the greater Barcelona metropolitan area: A health impact assessment study", Environment International, vol. 49, pp. 100-109.

Rotolo, T. & Wilson, J. 2006, "Employment Sector and Volunteering: The Contribution of Nonprofit and Public Sector Workers to the Volunteer Labor Force", The Sociological Quarterly, vol. 47, no. 1, pp. 21-40.

46

Ruiter, S. & Nan Dirk De Graaf 2006, "National Context, Religiosity and Volunteering: Results from 53 Countries", American Sociological Review, vol. 71, no. 2, pp. 191-210.

Sælensminde, K. 2004, "Cost–benefit analyses of walking and cycling track networks taking into account insecurity, health effects and external costs of motorized traffic", Transportation Research Part A, vol. 38, no. 8, pp. 593-606.

Schwanen, T., 2015, "The Bumpy Road toward Low-Energy Urban Mobility: Case Studies from Two UK Cities", Sustainability, 7(6), pp.7086-7111.

Seale, E. 2011, "Helping the Poor or the System? Examining My Participation: Observation in Social Service Organizations", Journal of Applied Social Science, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 50-61.

Steffen, W., Broadgate, W., Deutsch, L., Gaffney, O. & Ludwig, C. 2015, "The trajectory of the Anthropocene: The Great Acceleration", The Anthropocene Review, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 81-98.

Steinbach, R., Green, J., Datta, J. & Edwards, P. 2011, "Cycling and the city: A case study of how gendered, ethnic and class identities can shape healthy transport choices", Social Science & Medicine, vol. 72, no. 7, pp. 1123-1130.

Thornley, L., Ball, J., Signal, L., Lawson-Te Aho, K. & Rawson, E. 2015, "Building community resilience: learning from the Canterbury earthquakes", Kotuitui: New Zealand Journal of Social Sciences Online, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 23-35.

Tight, M., Timms, P., Banister, D., Bowmaker, J., Copas, J., Day, A., Drinkwater, D., Givoni, M., Gühnemann, A., Lawler, M., Macmillen, J., Miles, A., Moore, N., Newton, R., Ngoduy, D., Ormerod, M., O'Sullivan, M. & Watling, D. 2011, "Visions for a walking and cycling focussed urban transport system", Journal of Transport Geography, vol. 19, no. 6, pp. 1580-1589.

Townsend, M., Gibbs, L., Macfarlane, S., Block, K., Staiger, P., Gold, L., Johnson, B. & Long, C. 2014, "Volunteering in a School Kitchen Garden Program: Cooking Up Confidence, Capabilities, and Connections", VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 225-247.

Tremblay, C. & Gutberlet, J. 2010, "Empowerment through participation: assessing the voices of leaders from recycling cooperatives in Sao Paulo, Brazil", Community Development Journal.

Weninger, A., 2012, "From 5 to 10%. The Challenge to Double Vienna’s Modal Share of Cycling", na.

Werna, E., Harpham, T., Blue, I. and Goldstein, G., 2014. Healthy city projects in developing countries: An international approach to local problems. Routledge.

47

Appendices

Appendices 1- Annual report handed out at the annual meeting (19/08/2016):

Annual report 2015-2016 (including start of 2016/17)2016 has been another big year for Reading Bicycle Kitchen! It seems like only yesterday we were contemplating Dave leaving the project and what we would do if Jackson’s was sold. Both these events came and went and we have managed to move out, move back in, assist our other tenants to do the same, and continue trading on ambitious new 5pm-9pm evening hours. Whilst we missed trading in the first quarter of this year (January, February, March and early April) we managed to not lose contact with the volunteers or project as a whole and business has quickly returned to pre-move levels.The new landlords have put down strict conditions on occupancy of the building and we have nearly fulfilled all requirements regarding fire safety and building security. These will continue to remain a priority but will hopefully be in place and less demanding after August.We have had some fantastic socials (including a wild camping trip) and continue to look at how we can engage volunteers and grow the community that is forming around the Bike Kitchen. It goes without saying that we are nothing without our fantastic volunteers.Thank you all for another great year!

Trading (TOTALS)Year (Feb to Jan) Bikes sold Parts sold Workstand hire* Income2014/15 132 904 659 £17,917 2015/16 404 2,116 1,437 £54,503 2016/17 98 555 531 £14,777

*this documents the amount of people who have hired a workstand and not for how many hours they were here

Major costsBusiness rates (for which we receive an 80%reduction), tools, workshop equipment (including consumables), electricity, water, recycling, Insurance, broadcasting PRS and ad-hoc maintenance.Under the new landlords we have been required to spend money on additional building costs – fire safety checks, charging extinguishers, checking emergency lights, fitting a new alarm system and making the building secure. These costs are large, one off costs and have all come in the past two months.

Other spendingRBK will, on occasion, elect to support other good causes. These are suggested or recommended by volunteers and donations are agreed in our team meetings. In 2015/16 we have donated money to Calaid and bikes to those on the Launchpad Earn a Bike Scheme

48

as well as newly arrived refugees. We were delighted by Rachel’s bake sale for Mind and encourage other people to come forward if they want us to support a cause close to their heart.We will happily purchase food and drinks for staff socials and hot drink basics for the workshop. In 2016/17 we have agreed to spend on additional training for volunteers to undergo fire safety and first aid courses. Other incomeThe courses run by Adrian have continued to be a huge success and boost our income greatly. Multiple private courses have also been commissioned which have generated additional income.We receive nominal rent from the other tenants in the building as well as hire of the meeting room and use of Jackson’s for storage. The presence of our tenants helps us to secure a business rates reduction.Unfortunately, we are no longer running courses for Launchpad’s Earn a Bike scheme but are looking at a similar project for delivery in the near future.We were lucky enough to secure a grant in August 2015 and again in 2016 from the Big Bike revival for £2,000 each time. This is restricted to the purchase of additional tools.Storage in February and March in a private storage facility was a significant one off cost.

Appendices 2 – Some Facebook and online feedback gathered about RBK

49

In regards to being able to move back into Jacksons:

Appendices 3 – Interview structure

For volunteers:

Time and place.

Name, profession/occupation, age, male/female, where they are from.

- How long have you lived in Reading?- What do you think of Reading?- Have you been part of or visited other bike kitchens?

How did you find out about the reading bicycle kitchen?

How and why did you get involved?

What made you stick around?

How long have you been part of RBK?

How the Reading Bicycle Kitchen made you feel? If so, why?

How has the initiative influenced you as an individual? If so how?

50

What role do initiatives such as RBK play? Are they important? And why?

What does it represent to the community?

What does it represent to the individuals involved?

Do you feel there’s a need for initiatives such as this one?

In your opinion what are the aims of this initiative?

What has made RBK successful?

How is RBK different, to for example a book club?

In your opinion what are the biggest obstacles that RBK has had to over come?

And how were they overcome?

Cycling clubs can be seen as cliquey/elitist, how has RBK managed for that to not transcend into RBK?

For directors:

Time and place.

Name, profession/occupation, age, male/female, where they are from.

How long have you lived in Reading?What do you think of Reading?Have you been part of or visited other bike kitchens?How did you find out about RBKHow and why did you get involved?What is your role in RBKHow did you become a director? And since when

How are the directors appointed?

What are the greatest day to day challenges of running the kitchen?

How are big and little decisions made?

In the time that you have been a director how have the aims or management of RBK changed?

What is the vision for RBK?

51

How do you think about change and resilience?

In your opinion what does RBK represent in the community?

And what does the Reading community think of RBK?

Bicycle communities/clubs can be quite “elite/snobbish”, how has RBK managed for this to transcend into RBK so as not to marginalize minority groups?

What is reading community in your opinion?

Are there any ways in which you think that RBK could have a greater impact on the Reading community?

How could RBK be made into part of something bigger?

How is RBK interconnected within the Reading community?

Do have plans to collaborate with other initiatives such as Transition Town Reading?

how RBK is financially sustained?How could the council facilitate so RBK can have a wider/greater reach to the community?

In your opinion who participates with RBK? Who benefits the most from RBK?

What role do initiatives such as RBK play? Are they important? If so, why? What does it represent to people?

In your opinion what are the aims of this initiative?

What has made RBK a success?

How is RBK different, to for example a book club?

In your opinion what are the biggest obstacles that RBK has had to over come?

And how were they overcome?

Has the Reading Bicycle Kitchen made you feel?

And finally has the initiative influenced you as a person? If so how? (skills, etc)

Or examples where you have seen happen to other people affected by RBK

In your opinion do you think that RBK has played a role in reducing vulnerability, in individuals or the community as a whole?

52

53