Two weeks · 1131207
Build to Bond
Introduction to Product Design & Manufacture (Bamboo Balance Bike). Makers build a balance bike for a child in their family.
Build to Bond.
A bike built in prison.
A connection that goes home.
Makers build a balance bike for a child in their family. Each prison decides where bikes go, within its family-contact rules.
Making
Achievement
Giving
Connection
The finished product becomes more than evidence of a skill. It can become a reason to reconnect.
Family connection is part of rehabilitation,
not separate from it.
Photo: BBC studio.
Watch the balance bike build →Build to Bond.
A bike built in prison.
A connection that goes home.
- Making
- →
- Achievement
- ↓
- Giving
- ←
- Connection
The finished product becomes more than evidence of a skill. It can become a reason to reconnect.
Makers build a balance bike for a child in their family. Each prison decides where bikes go, within its family-contact rules.
Family connection is part of rehabilitation,
not separate from it.
Photo: BBC studio.
Watch the balance bike build →courses
Two courses. Two ways in.
Six weeks · 1130735
Workshop Skills and Sustainable Manufacturing
108 contact hours a Maker: tool discipline, bike theory and a full bamboo frame. 120 guided learning hours and 192 total qualification time on the specification.
Both are bespoke OCN London Level 2 courses and are not Ofqual-regulated · Photos: BBC builds and workshops, not prisons
custody
Custody: built for prisons, and to scale.
A safe, welcoming space that each prison helps to shape: somewhere Makers can feel at home.
we install
We design, fit out and install the workshop, with our jigs, tools and learning materials.
train the trainer
We train prison staff as instructors, with video-call support.
ongoing support
Staff deliver with our instructor app; we visit about every six weeks.
the prison provides
Local delivery, trained staff and ongoing participation.
Photo: our workshop, HMP Northumberland
self-delivery
Low-cost self-delivery,
with our support.
Our instructor app gives trained local staff everything to run each session.
Every session ready
Lesson plans, slides, films and workbooks.
Easy to teach from
Instructors log in on a laptop or phone and teach each session step by step.
Records built in
Cohorts, learner forms and safety checks.
Why it costs less
Local staff deliver it, not our instructors.
Instructor dashboard
Lesson guide
Screens: our instructor app, OCN Level 2 course, 2026; no learner data; not a prison photo
production
From learning to
purposeful production.
We don’t start with employability. We start with making. People can become “accidentally employable” along the way.
Balance bikes
First engineering skills, accredited by OCN London at Level 2
1
Bamboo bikes
Advanced manufacture & regenerative materials
2
E-bikes
Electrical systems &
future mobility
3
Repair & refurbishment
Circular economy & transferable cycle skills
4
Digital manufacture
3D printing · CAD · AI design tools
5
Production
Community products · fleets · purposeful activity
6
One frame, multiple entry points.
A workshop that can grow. Our programmes can be delivered in classrooms and in spaces large or small.
Photos: BBC builds and workshops, not prisons.
We don’t start with employability. We start with making. People can become “accidentally employable” along the way.
One frame, multiple entry points.
- 1
Balance bikesFirst engineering skills, OCN London Level 2
- 2
Bamboo bikesAdvanced manufacture, regenerative materials
- 3
E-bikesElectrical systems, future mobility
- 4
Repair and refurbishmentCircular economy, cycle skills
- 5
Digital manufacture3D printing · CAD · AI design tools
- 6
ProductionCommunity products, fleets
A workshop that can grow. Our programmes can be delivered in classrooms and in spaces large or small.
Photos: BBC builds and workshops, not prisons.
partnerships
Who we work with.
HMP Northumberland
running
HMP Lindholme
running
HMP Lowdham Grange
installed
HMP Foston Hall
installed
Camden Council
pilot, July 2026
Approved Premises
Wales, in development
“Innovative projects, such as Build to Bond, support rehabilitation and help people leave prison as better citizens, boosting the economy and keeping our streets safe.”
Lord Timpson OBE, Prisons Minister 2024–2026
Quote: FT, 5 Sep 2025 · map: ONS, OGL v3.0; contains OS data © Crown copyright 2023
- 1HMP Northumberland
running - 2HMP Lindholme
running - 3HMP Lowdham Grange
installed - 4HMP Foston Hall
installed - 5Camden Council
pilot, July 2026 - 6Approved Premises
Wales, in development
“Innovative projects, such as Build to Bond, support rehabilitation and help people leave prison as better citizens, boosting the economy and keeping our streets safe.”
Lord Timpson OBE, Prisons Minister 2024–2026
Quote: FT, 5 Sep 2025 · map: ONS, OGL v3.0; contains OS data © Crown copyright 2023
evidence
90%+
completion across the prison programme
BBC programme records
14
prison staff trained as instructors
Programme records · Sep 2026
10+
Makers have become peer mentors
James Marr’s count · Sep 2026
custody
The bamboo bike course offers more than just technical training – it provides an avenue for creativity, teamwork, and self-expression.”
Sally Allsopp, Industries Manager, HMP Lowdham Grange · Inside Time, 17 Nov 2025
commissioning
How commissioning works.
Commissioned by prisons through the DPS (Dynamic Purchasing System) and their own purchase orders. Pricing is agreed per site and cohort.
- 1
Start a conversation
Tell us about your site, who you want to reach and your aims.
- 2
Agree site controls
Site-specific risk assessments and safe systems of work. Learner work uses hand tools only.
- 3
Agree the programme
The two-week Build to Bond, the six-week training, or both; staff training and assessment.
- 4
Confirm commissioning
Scope, quotation and purchase order for your site.
Solid: agreed with every site · dashed: confirmed per site
for prisons
Discuss a programme for your prison.
Build bikes. Build skills. Build futures.
For governors, heads of reducing reoffending and funders. Tell us your site and the people you want to reach.
Photo: our Gravel Lugged frame kit, laid out