Free Wheel Gorgie
Free Wheel Gorgie was our grassroots community project based in South West Edinburgh, run by The Bike Station and funded by Transport Scotland.. The project consisted of a partnership programme where we worked with organisations across Gorgie, supporting their individuals with free bikes, accessories and skills classes.
The public facing aspect of the programme aimed to equip individuals in the local community with free maintenance classes, Dr. Bike services and skills development. When combining our partner programme with our public facing opportunities we foster place-based behaviour change and getting more people to get involved in active travel.
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Free Wheel Gorgie was funded by the Paths For All, Smarter Choices, Smarter Places Open Fund.
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The programme ended in 2024.
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Working In Partnership
Through Free Wheel Gorgie we worked in partnership with organisations working in the local area. This helped us to understand a variety of needs and best support individuals who are often underrepresented or face barriers to getting involved in active travel programmes.
Empowering the community
With an existing presence in Gorgie after opening our third branch here in 2023, we grew and developed our presence as a community hub. We empowered the local community, giving them a suite of resources from Dr. Bikes to Maintenance classes to encourage and foster active travel.
Active Travel
Active travel is all about making journeys in physically active ways. This can include but is not limited to cycling, walking, wheeling, scooting etc. Increased active travel has many different benefits like reducing congestion on roads, decreasing pollution, helping us to achieve net-zero goals and increasing communities physical and mental wellbeing.
Place-Based behaviour change
Using a person-centred approach to meet the needs of a local community and work towards a common goal. We identified the community of Gorgie as an area where some individuals may experience barriers to getting involved in active travel. We want to make active travel accessible and break down these barriers by providing a suite of services.