Free bike mechanic training is on offer to unemployed young people. BikeMechanix, run by Cycle Confident with funding from Lambeth council, will train 16-24 year-olds as bike mechanics and support them to find work placements.
The programme is offering up to £1,500 of free training to 24 young people to help them qualify as professional bike mechanics. There’s also training workshops for a much larger group of young people who don’t want a career, but are interested in basic repair skills. This programme runs from now until September.
Hilary Harvey, BikeMechanix project coordinator says: “Applications are now open to any young person aged 16-24 who is a resident of Lambeth, and not currently in education, employment or training. All you need is to be passionate about bikes and want to develop new skills.”
There are three levels of training on offer:
- a foundation day that introduces basic bike maintenance
- advanced training (two days) that gives a taster of different bikes, how to change a wheel, replace brake pads and cables, adjust gears. The second day covers personal development
- level 2 City and Guild certificate in cycle mechanics (17 days). Fifteen days are spent on hands-on training in a fully equipped workshop, plus 2 days of personal development.
Three City and Guilds training groups will take place, one in May, July and August. Foundation and advanced training will take place regularly between April and August. See website for a full list of dates.
You can apply online here, complete a paper application. You can also do an application over the phone. Call 0208 8133 3728 or text on 07800 005 606.
Cycle Confident have teamed up with Kaizen to design and deliver the training. Cycle Confident will do all the mechanics training and Kaizen will deliver the personal development components.
To find out more about the BikeMechanix programme email
