May’s Local Council Elections

Streets for Cycling

/The local elections are upon us.

London Cycling Campaign is hoping to get the support of local party leaders to build safe cycle networks in their Boroughs – something that would benefit thousands of Londoners each and every day. LCC is calling its campaign Streets for Cycling.

As we all know, here in Redbridge, there’s plenty of opportunity to improve things …

So, what is RCC going to do?

We have just emailed each of the main parties or, if we know who they are, the local leaders of these parties, to ask them to pledge their support for Streets for Cycling.

Here is the text of the email we are sending

You can see that we are offering to

meet the local party leaders or their representatives if they are thinking about pledging but have some questions.
take local party leaders or their representatives on a ride in the Borough to see things in the ground.

We will update our post when leaders make the pledge.

London Cycling Campaign has made it easy for us all to email local leaders. Log on to their website and look for this panel. Your email will be sent to your Borough’s local party leaders.

We know that there may not be many votes in improving cycling provision and that other issues are likely to dominate the election. And parties may be reluctant to make commitments for fear of making themselves hostages to fortune. But, at the same time, it is an opportunity to let those standing for election know that there are many residents who think improving the Borough’s provision for cyclists is important. And you never know, they might just remember that once in Office

RCC Fix-Your-Bike

Redbridge Cycling Campaign’s second Fix-Your-Bike session at St Gabriel’s Church car park, on Saturday, 21 March, 2026 was another success – we fixed ten bikes!

The next session will be on Saturday, 18 April, 2026 between 10.00 am and 12.30 pm, again at St Gabriel’s, Park Road, Aldersbrook. Fix-Your-Bike will be part of the St Gabriel’s voluntary groups’ coffee morning. So come along, meet Redbridge Cycling Campaign volunteers, and learn about our work to support cycling and cyclists in the borough. It will also be a great opportunity to meet people from other voluntary groups in the area. And we can check your bike and carry out minor repairs at the same time!

Thank you to everyone who made a donation at our first two Fix-Your-bike sessions. For anyone who would still like to make a donation, here is a link to our PayPal page.

First RCC Fix-Your-Bike

Thank you to everyone who came along and supported the RCC Fix-Your-Bike session at St Gabriel’s Church car park on Saturday, 21 February, 2026.

The session was a great success, with 24 bikes fixed. We carried out a range of repairs, including fitting new brake cables, gear cables, brake blocks and inner tubes.

Thank you to everyone who made a voluntary donation. For those who said they would like to make a donation on the website, please use this link: Voluntary payment link.

The next session will take place on Saturday, 21 March 2026, from 11 am to 2 pm, again in St Gabriel’s car park, Park Road, Aldersbrook.

Fix-your-bike

We’re happy to announce that, on Saturday 21^st February 2026 we are launching our Dr. Bike scheme – we’re calling it RCC Fix-your-bike – in St Gabriel’s Church Hall car park. The session will run from 11.00am to 2pm.

At the session we can:

check bikes for roadworthiness.
make small adjustments to bikes.
carry out small repairs.
advise on more major repairs.

The aim of the scheme is to get customers’ bikes going again.

To give a few examples, we can adjust brakes and gears, lubricate chains and sort out rattling mudguards but we can’t give your bike a full service or bleed its hydraulic brakes.

There is no charge for the work although if you want to you can make a voluntary contribution. However we would ask you to pay for any parts – like brake blocks or brake cables – that we fit. We can take cash or card.

Maybe we shouldn’t say this but … if you need to bring your bike by car there is on street parking along Park Road.

And once your bike is good to go you can join us for our first scheduled ride of 2026 on Sunday 1st March. Details are on the website. St Gabriel’s Church Hall is a good place to start – it’s close to where the mechanics live, so if they find they are short of a tool they can nip home and get it. And it’s close to where many of our members live. But it is in a corner of the Borough and for the long term we are looking for a more central venue or venues.

RCC Fix your bike

Redbridge Cycling Campaign is going to launch a Dr. Bike scheme. Here’s the plan …

We want to run Fix your Bike sessions one Saturday or Sunday a month. At the sessions we will:

check bikes for roadworthiness.
make small adjustments to bikes.
carry out small repairs.
advise on more major repairs.
the aim of the scheme is to get customers’ bikes going again.

The session will last for three hours, probably between 11.00 am and 2.00 pm.

To run the sessions, we will need a pool of volunteers. We already have a few but the more the merrier. Volunteers will be needed for half an hour before and after a session to set up and break down the stall.

For each session we will need:

At least one person front of house.
At least one senior mechanic capable of carrying out the full range of repairs we offer.
One or two other mechanics who can carry out the repairs listed in the ‘required’ column below.

The roles can be split between two people. So, for example, if you could do front of house only between 10.30 am and 12.30 pm, we will try and pair you up with someone who can do 12.30 pm to 2.30 pm.

We hope we can create a pool of volunteers from which we can staff each session

Role	Description	Need to be able …	Nice to be able to ..	Very Nice to be able to …
Front of House	Help set up the stall. Receive bikes for repair. Record the customer’s phone number, bike type, and the repair requested. If necessary, check with the senior mechanic that the repair is possible. Issue a repair ticket and Place and secure the bike in the cycle rack. Contact the customer when the bike is ready for collection. Return the bike to the customer. Accept any donations the customer makes. Hand out RCC business cards and any material relating to current RCC campaigns. Talk to customers to find out about current cycling issues in the area. At the end of a session money Help break down the stall.	Use a Sum-up card (training can be provided). Chat to customers to get information on their cycling issues.	Come to our once monthly meetings to tell us what cycling issues customers have raised.
Mechanic	Carry out repairs to customers bikes according to the mechanics’ level of competence. Be responsible for a toolkit. If a tool gets lost, to let the lead mechanic know.	Lubricate a chain. Replace brake and gear cables. Replace brake and gear cable outers. Change an Inner tube. Adjust rim brakes. Replace brake blocks.	Adjust disc brakes. Adjust headsets. Adjust hubs. Adjust mudguards Index gears.	True wheels. Replace parts such as derailleurs, and pedals. Adjust hub gears. Adjust hub brakes.
Driver	Transport the toolkits and other kit needed for the session to and from the session venue.	Medium or large family car, SUV or van.