Coventry Bike Project – Case Study

Coventry and Warwickshire Co-operative Development Agency (CWCDA) have been funded by WMCA to deliver “The Coventry Way,” one of several West Midland Cluster projects.

The project focuses on Social Enterprises that meet core community needs, helping them to consider how they diversify their offer, grow and satisfy community needs.

As part of the project, CWCDA networked with, and interviewed Social Enterprises and other community organisations operating in the social economy to identify community needs in the St Michael’s ward of Coventry. The ward includes areas amongst the most deprived 10% in England.

Conversations with the Coventry Refugee and Migrant Centre (CRMC) and other local organisations indicated a demand for pushbikes for those newly arrived in Coventry. With no provision in the City, clients are referred to the Bike Project in Birmingham. Referrals are limited to 11 per month with an average wait of 5/6 months for clients to receive an appointment after the referral.

Requests for bikes are at around 20-25 per month – there is limited capacity/resource within CRMC to support clients with these referrals/waiting time/after care. This is resulting in travel issues for many migrants in Coventry, especially when looking for employment or accessing services.

As part of the work on the Cluster project in St Michael’s (Hillfields), seeking to understand the activities and services that are available in the area and the needs of the community, CWCDA met with the Peace House Charity. Within this project sits the Coventry Cycle Centre who repair and refurbish donated bikes which are then sold to the local community. Four volunteers manage and lead the project on Tuesdays from 10:00am to 2:00pm – offering a safe space to those who want to help. This project is operating on a very small scale and cannot keep up with demand.

CWCDA also identified that Positive Youth Foundation have been running “Go Foleshill” since 2020 – with a focus on addressing health inequalities and partnering with the Muslim Resource Centre to develop and run female only cycling activities. They also have a venue at Broad Heath Primary School where they are running sessions for women and young people, partnering with British Cycling and Coventry City Council to deliver cycling activities. They are also looking to train coaches from within the local community to deliver sessions.

Following on from this work, CWCDA facilitated an action group to move this work forward – and, in March 2026, registered the Coventry Bike Project as a Community Interest Company– which it plans to develop with a centralised location at Coventry University – with space being identified for storage, workshop and repairs and maintenance with the aim of providing bikes to referral agencies from an easily accessible location.

Unwanted or abandoned bikes will be sourced by building on and developing its’ partnership with a number of agencies in the city – including WM Police, Coventry Cycle Centre, and Coventry City Council.

Bikes will be offered for sale and rental to the local community either through self -referral or through local organisations.

The project will work with organisations across the city including Family Hubs to offer bikes to those on nil or low income or for sale and rental – providing the opportunity to reduce social isolation, access volunteering and employment opportunities and improving physical health and well-being as well as increasing awareness of cycling and its benefits.

It will also continue to work with organisations including Positive Youth Foundation to provide bike riding training sessions that responds to local community needs and to offer safety equipment including helmets, hi-vis jackets etc.

Volunteers will be recruited and trained to perform basic maintenance and repairs and will be guided by a skilled mechanic. The training provided can provide a stepping stone for an interest in bike maintenance and even a return to employment.

CWCDA are members of the Coventry Cycling Partnership which brings together a range of organisations including Coventry Council, Cycling UK, Positive Youth Foundation and Coventry Cycle Centre with a shared interest in increasing cycle participation and improving access and skills to co-ordinate the sourcing collection.

The Coventry Way Cluster project has identified and connected local organisations and is acting as a facilitator to alleviate a significant social problem in Coventry. The project’s innovative approach has enabled a local community to find solutions to its transport problem. Further work will enable the Coventry Bike Project to begin operating and help to solve the transport issue for migrants.

The project will also support Coventry City Council in trying to make Coventry an environmentally friendly City and will facilitate the growth of the cycling community which will lead to an increase in the number of residents choosing bicycles as their means of transport.

Coventry City Council has been working with CWCDA to support their Bike Project initiative. Access to bikes is a barrier to active travel that disproportionately affected already-disadvantaged communities, so supporting greater access to mobility in turn can improve social and economic prospects for people on low incomes and other marginalised groups. Coventry’s transport strategy highlights a desire to deliver “Mobility Hubs” across the city that would provide access to micromobility at the community level, and initiatives like the Bike Project are a potential model to build on and scale up city-wide. We have therefore been supporting CWCDA with practical help such as networking to help the project get off the ground, and we look forward to the success of the scheme.

Coventry University Sustainable Transport Manager has stated that

“The Coventry Bike Project is an innovative initiative designed to make cycling more accessible and affordable for both staff and students at the University. By offering refurbished second-hand bicycles for hire or purchase, the project aims to remove financial barriers that can prevent people from choosing cycling as a viable mode of transport. Central to the University’s wider sustainable travel strategy, the project seeks to encourage a significant modal shift away from single-occupancy car journeys, helping to reduce carbon emissions and support the institution’s 2030 carbon reduction targets. It is proposed that the project will operate from vacant warehouse space within the Alma Building in Hillfields, a location that is well positioned not only to serve the University community but also to benefit the surrounding area. As one of the most disadvantaged wards in Coventry, Hillfields presents an opportunity for the project to extend its impact by providing low-cost or free bicycles to local residents, improving access to employment, education, and other opportunities across the city, while contributing to wider social and economic development.”