What happens at a Charity Bike Building event?
Suitable for groups of 8 – 2000+, o3e’s Charity Bike Build Challenge begins with a special presentation from the charity receiving the bike donations. Always passionate, sometimes emotional and with the recipients at the centre.
In teams, the group will allocate responsibilities. Who is going to assemble the wheels? Who will be in charge of gears? Who is the safety expert? Once decided, o3e run knowledge sessions where the teams gain the skills necessary to build road-safe bikes. Each knowledge session is led by a qualified o3e bike mechanic and they will teach the participants everything they need to know about building the bike.
Armed with their new found skills the teams regroup and share what they have learnt. Next, with a plan in place and access to tools, grease and air, the team begins the build!
Why build and donate bikes?
The event that started it all! Sometimes copied, never bettered. The original Charity Bike Build.
Fast paced, with the highest levels of engagement, Charity Bike Build encourages great communication, loads of laughter.
At the end, you will donate your newly built, high quality bikes, that make a positive impact upon your chosen charity. One bike could make the difference for a young carer being able to go outside and enjoy being young. One bike could make the difference to a homeless individual being able to get to a job. Your one bike could make one big difference.
Charity Bike Build Mini Challenges
As well as the main bike build, there are mini challenges teams can take part in to win bike accessories.
Every bike is donated with a helmet and lock available from the o3e charity bike shop, though the teams may excel enough to add other accessories including lights, a bag, water bottle and a pump!
Every challenge aims to get the teams to work together more efficiently.
- Velodrome: a mathematical challenge designed to test team’s communication skills.
- Nail It: a thinking outside the box challenge. Teams need to work together to find the right solution.
- Virtual Cycle Simulator: an exciting centre piece to an o3e Charity Bike Build is the racing simulator. It’s highly competitive and high energy!
We can be flexible with the challenges included depending on your needs. You may want to include a challenge which incorporates product or business knowledge, you may want to swap some of the cerebral challenges for more physical ones, or vice versa. We’re happy to discuss options with you!
Charity Bike Build FAQs
What's the group size for the Charity Bike Build?
To maintain a bit of healthy competition, the bike build works best with at least two teams of around eight people. But we can cater for smaller groups too! The event is totally scalable and suitable for groups of 8 - 2000+. We can also offer the activity as part of a conference, drop-in, or exhibition stand - contact a member of the team to find out more about these options.
Where does the bike build take place?
We'll bring our team and all the equipment for the event directly to you, whether you're at a hired event space or on-site at your offices. We're invested in keeping our carbon footprint low, so we have a network of specialist o3e Event Crew and Bike Mechanics across the country. We've held events in the UK, Europe, the USA and beyond!
How do you choose which charity the bikes we make will be donated to?
If you don't already know which charity you'd like to support, we'll give you options for organisations in need, typically in your local area as we feel supporting your own community is important. Bikes are particularly valued by children's carers charities, homeless charities, sports initiatives and refuges. Although we work with big charities like Shelter and Action for Children, we tend to try to encourage giving donations to smaller charities who don't always receive the same funding as larger organisations.
How long does the Bike Build activity last?
The Bike Build is designed to last around 2-2.5 hours. However we can be flexible based on your agenda - if you're running a drop-in session at an exhibition, or a larger full day event, get in touch and we can discuss options.
What happens after the Bike Build event?
After the event, we'll deliver the bikes you've made directly to the charity, normally on the very same day straight after your event. Once the recipients have had the donations for a short while, you'll receive feedback you can share with your team to really demonstrate the difference they've made by participating in the event.
I'm interested in the Charity Bike Build - what next?
Get in touch with us via our Contact Form, the phone or email to let us know the size of your group, the anticipated location and date of your event (if you have one). We'll then provide a straightforward quote and a summary of the number of bikes and accessories you'll be making. If you choose to go ahead with the event, we'll get the ball rolling with the event set up. We project manage the entire process from start to finish. We'll liaise with you about charity options and organise the event logistics, agenda, event space set-up and charity representative. We can also add bespoke elements to your event, depending on your objectives - for example, you might want to incorporate messaging surrounding your company's mission and vision, values or brand. We pride ourselves on providing exceptional service, and our client testimonials and satisfaction scores are a testament to this!