This is how it happened: Jens, myself, and many other volunteers have been working for a workshop called Rad i.O. at the university for a long time. Most of the time, students come in and need help getting their +- fancy bikes back on the road. Our workshop has been around longer than I have-so quite a long time-and our services are well known in Dresden.
That's probably why, at the beginning of 2015, a few committed people from Bikes4Refugees wrote to us and asked if we would be interested in organizing a bike repair event for and with refugees. They often have limited funds, and cycling is a good and inexpensive form of transportation. So used bikes were collected and the idea was to spend a day working with us and the refugees to get them back into shape. We agreed, and the first event took place at the end of March 2015. It was a complete success, but it was also quite a challenge. Afterwards, many refugees came during regular opening hours, which exceeded the capacity of our small workshop.
Therefore, there was a second round of bike repairs by Bikes4Refugees in May – this time in the schoolyard of the Laborschule in Gorbitz. Even more people in need of bikes came, and we could hardly keep up. At the end of the day, we were pretty exhausted, and about 80 people rolled out of the yard with a more or less functional bike.
Everyone who helped organize, accompany, and supervise the two campaigns agreed—there is a huge demand for bicycles among refugees, but we cannot meet it with one-off campaigns like these. We need more bicycle self-help workshops in the city. Ideally, ones where refugees themselves can do the repairs to facilitate communication – yes, our Arabic, Persian, and Tigrinya are still rather poor.
So a new workshop was needed. But where to get one, short of stealing it?
The possible answer came at the end of 2015. The city of Dresden had secured funding from the European Social Fund (ESF) for social citizen projects in various districts, including Friedrichstadt. We thought this was a good fit and wrote a project outline for a bicycle self-help workshop in Friedrichstadt at the beginning of 2016. A place for everyone – to learn, chat, meet new people, make bikes beautiful, and feel at home in the neighborhood. Our plan was well received, and in early 2017, the city council finally decided: yes – we will support your project and others within the framework of the ESF.
Summer arrived, bringing with it a pile of paperwork from the city and funding agencies regarding our wonderful project. This also raised a few questions for us. How many people would show up? How many hours would it take to complete a closed project, and how could we ensure 90% participation from people in the funding area? Why was the Saxon Development Bank's software only compatible with Windows computers? We fought our way through the paperwork on the way to the wrench.
Summer passed slowly, and autumn crept in. We were supposed to be getting started by now, but the paperwork was slower than our hopes and plans. At the Friedrichstadt district festival, we said “Hello!” and the first friendly people joined us and offered their support.
Then nothing much happened for a while, the wheels were turning... but we grew bolder and, even before we had the official funding decision in our hands, we rented the premises at Berliner Straße 28. So – we took the plunge! Ross – you're coming! And at the end of November, a document arrived, written in official German but eagerly awaited nonetheless: you're getting the money – get started! Good luck!
