The Story Behind The Name ‘Bike for Good’

Welcome to the first ever Bike for Good blog post. We’ve been so wrapped up in what we are doing, we forgot to record all our news! It’s about time, since we are nearly 10 years old.

Would you like to hear about the story behind our name?

In July 2010, we were born. Our first home was in the famous Barras Market. Our name was ‘Glasgow Bike Shed‘, quite literally.

Our ‘office’ at the very beginning. Look at the size of that computer!

 

We were a completely voluntary team, made up of our Founder Greg, and some friends. We had a small set of tools, and a bucket load of enthusiasm and passion for bikes. Our first ever mechanic Karolis is still with us, 9 years on!

We were building and refurbishing bikes and selling them, then reinvesting that money into the business. The opportunity to develop into community outreach work came in the form of a small grant from Firstport.

Our founding team (with a lot more hair than they have now…)

 

By 2012, our team had expanded to 6 people, including the wonderful (now Head of Projects) Victoria, who came on board to develop community outreach work. We had outgrown our wee market stall, so we moved into our warehouse at 65 Haugh Road.

Sensing an opportunity to trade under a recognised brand name, we leapt at the chance to join The Bike Station network in 2012, becoming ‘Glasgow Bike Station’. This helped us to secure our first large grant from the Climate Challenge Fund, and at this point we began to grow steadily. 

A brand new warehouse home for Glasgow Bike Station

 

2017 was a big year for us. We received our 20,000th bike donation. We opened a second premises in Govanhill. And we made the major decision to rebrand.

For many reasons, the name ‘Glasgow Bike Station’ didn’t fully encompass all the work that we were doing with communities. We wanted a name that reflected our work in changing lives through cycling. Our Ideas Man Greg finally came up with ‘Bike for Good’.

‘Bike for Good’ – changing lives through cycling.

 

Why ‘Bike for Good’? We use bikes as a tool to ‘do good’ in our community outreach projects. We teach people how to love and respect their bikes with skills and development opportunities, giving them skills for good. Buying a refurbished bike is good for the environment, and cycling as a mode of transport is good for reducing our carbon emissions, Cycling for us is not just a summer activity – it’s a lifestyle choice, it’s for good.

And therein lies the story of our dynamic brand, and how our name has evolved to reflect our values. 

Bike for Good!

 

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