Changemakers: Jem Stein gets refugees moving across London with Bike Project

When we started out, we fixed bikes for corporate clients. It was stressful and wasn’t profitable. I learned that it’s better to stay focused on your core mission. Don’t be afraid to stop and regroup then change course.

Stein points out that the Bike Project team, now numbering 13 people, has kept the application process for a set of wheels as easy as possible. No proof is needed of someone’s status as a refugee or asylum seeker, just some basic details in an online form. The flip side of this is that the waiting list is three months long. That is around 400 people – but the charity has given more than 4,500 refurbished bikes away to date.

To keep the operation running, The Bike Project sells second-hand bikes too. Stein’s team of mechanics select donated bikes which might sell for a decent price. Those sales support other projects too, ones Stein hopes “help people make the most of their bikes”.

This includes a programme teaching people to fix and maintain bikes and a talent development programme (which allows some wannabe-mechanics to volunteer in the workshop – one refugee works there full-time now). Refugee women can head along to Pedal Power, special sessions for women from countries where they might not have had the opportunity to learn to ride a bike. Here, they learn the skill from scratch in a safe environment.

And Stein launched Bike Buddies last year – an initiative reminiscent of what led him to steer change like he did. “Refugees who received a bike from the charity but are hesitant to cycle in the area, whether that’s because they don’t know their way around or they don’t know which routes are the safest, link up with a local volunteer who’s experienced on wheels. But it’s a friendship thing too. There’s no point to all of this if everyone stays isolated.”

The Bike Project was launched prior to the refugee crisis, but was still deeply impacted by it. “Demand exploded,” Stein says, explaining how the 2015 surge of people fleeing conflict and persecution in Syria and Iraq impacted the social enterprise. “We didn’t even really have a waiting list to start with. But while we’ve seen a huge increase in demand, we’ve also seen a huge increase in support.

“Trump changed things as well, funnily enough. He increased the issue’s profile for sure. When he ordered that travel ban on majority-Muslim countries, there were huge protests. We went on those protests and then, somehow, every time Trump tweeted about refugees, people would donate money to us. It was a bizarre situation.”

Now, Stein is working on launching a second Bike Project hub in Birmingham, which he says “ticked the boxes” – a significant refugee population plus reasonably pricey public transport for a network less comprehensive than that in London. He hopes the social enterprise can spread right across the country, but is wary of running before he can walk, so his priority for now is to prove that all branches of the project can run smoothly in a second location.

Next month, Stein will be leading a push on bike sales with the help of Theroux (the documentary maker recently recorded a video urging the public to go to Stein for their bikes and make a difference in the process). With the Birmingham hub opening soon, Stein says, it’s time to kick things up a gear.

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