Build relevant skills
Practical engineering, making, problem-solving and teamwork, in our courses today.
more than a bike.
a way forward.
Hands-on programmes in engineering, sustainable manufacturing and bicycle-building across education, community and custody, with routes into resettlement and employment in development.
Engagement · Skills · Qualifications · Confidence · Family connection · Mobility · Opportunity
Photo: from our own workshop
our approach
Designed and made by us.
Tailored to you.
Making is the way in: low-cost, engaging and hands-on, with results you can see.
Bike in a box
Every part, laid out
Programmes
From our menu, or designed with you. Run by us, or by trained local staff.
Hardware
We design and manufacture our kits and jigs, and fit out workshops.
Learning
Everything you need, on our app: lesson plans, videos, workbooks and resources.
Accreditation
An OCN London approved centre with two Level 2 courses.
Photos: our printed kit box, and our Gravel Lugged frame kit laid out
pathways
One approach.
Multiple intervention points.
Our theory of change
EngagementMakingSkills and confidenceConnectionRoutes into work
Four settings. People can join at any point.
01
Prevention
Tasters and short courses in schools, community settings and alternative provision, with local authorities.
02
Custody
Accredited courses and Build to Bond, in prison workshops we design and fit out.
03
Resettlement
In development: learning and mobility after release, with an Approved Premises pilot in Wales (HMPPS).
04
Employment
Employer team days; in development, work experience and jobs with employers who share our values.
Solid: running today · dashed: in development · our model, not yet independently evaluated
Our theory of change
- Engagement
- ↓
- Making
- ↓
- Skills and confidence
- ↓
- Connection
- ↓
- Routes into work
Four settings. People can join at any point.
- 01
Prevention
Tasters and short courses in schools, community settings and alternative provision, with local authorities.
Education → - 02
Custody
Accredited courses and Build to Bond, in prison workshops we design and fit out.
Prison programmes → - 03
Resettlement
In development: learning and mobility after release, with an Approved Premises pilot in Wales (HMPPS).
Resettlement → - 04
Employment
Employer team days; in development, work experience and jobs with employers who share our values.
Employment →
Solid: running today · dashed: in development · our model, not yet independently evaluated
evidence
What we’ve built since 2012.
4,000+
people trained since 2012
BBC programme and customer records
3,500+
bikes built
BBC programme and customer records
45
countries with our customers
Customer records, counted 7 Jul 2026
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
Justice and prevention
Clinks member
HMP Northumberland, Lindholme, Lowdham Grange, Foston Hall
Camden Council: one-day youth pilot
Project Zero: youth sessions, Walthamstow
In development: HMPPS Wales, Waltham Forest Council
Backers and partners
Investec Beyond Business 2025
The National Lottery Community Fund
OCN London approved centre
Partners in Amersfoort, Toulouse, Rwanda
Team days: Hilton, The Macallan, Four Seasons
Design and research
University of Manchester: bamboo composites
Swansea University: tubing tests
Oxford Brookes: 3D-printed lugs
UCL: Master’s engineering co-marking
Number 10’s Innovation is GREAT showcase
Exhibited at three museums. Featured in 60+ publications.
resettlement
The pathway doesn’t end
at the prison gate.
Continued learning → mobility → community → training → work: the routes we are developing with partners after release.
Wheels to Work, Wales
An Approved Premises pilot with HMPPS Wales, in development.
Why it matters
36.5% of people leaving prison were in work six months later (Ministry of Justice, year to March 2026).
Continued learning
Routes back into learning and skills after release, in development.
Local partnerships
Connecting people with councils, voluntary organisations and employers, in development.
Skills create opportunity.
Mobility makes it reachable.
Rider: not a participant.
evidence
The national picture, kept apart from our results.
People in prison who received social visits were less likely to reoffend within a year of release. External research, not a measured BBC outcome.
Ministry of Justice and Lord Timpson, matched analysis, 20 Mar 2026
25%
vs 28% without visits
We publish what we can evidence, and say when we can’t. Completion comes from BBC programme records; confidence from BBC programme evaluation of prison cohorts. We do not claim a measured BBC reoffending or employment result.
employment
Building the bridge to employment.
Build the employer relationship before asking for the job.
Relevant skills
+
the right network
=
routes to employment
Running now: skills in our courses and team days with employers. In development: routes into work.
Build relevant skills
Practical engineering, making, problem-solving and teamwork, in our courses today.
Build the network
We run corporate team days now. Employer teams take on the challenges Makers do.
Build the bridge
In development: routes into prison workshops, then mentoring, work experience and jobs.
Employer
Team Day / engagement
Understand the programme
Relationship
Employment opportunity
Photos: a BBC workshop; a corporate team day; James Marr, our founder, in a prison workshop.
Build the employer relationship before asking for the job.
Relevant skills+the right network=routes to employment
Running now: skills in our courses and team days with employers. In development: routes into work.
- Employer
- Team Day / engagement
- Understand the programme
- Relationship
- Employment opportunity
Build the network
We run corporate team days now. Employer teams take on the challenges Makers do.
Build the bridge
In development: routes into prison workshops, then mentoring, work experience and jobs.
Photos: a BBC workshop; a corporate team day; James Marr, our founder, in a prison workshop.
employment
Jobs need experience.
Experience needs a way in.
“Employers ask for experience, but the pathways through which it was once gained have narrowed or gone.” Alan Milburn, 2026
Fewer first jobs
1.6m
fewer mid- and lower-skilled jobs than 20 years ago; youth apprenticeship starts down over 40%.
Less experience
6 in 10
young people not in work or training have never had a job, up from 4 in 10 in 2005.
Still wanting work
84%
of them want a job, education or training.
Our answer
We help both sides: real making experience for people, and a new way in for employers who share their values.
Source: Young People and Work, interim report (Alan Milburn, DWP), 28 May 2026
work with us
Let’s explore where this model could complement your work.
Build bikes. Build skills. Build futures.
Bamboo Bicycle Club · Bamboo Mobility Project CIC. James Marr, Founder & CEO · Chris Barrett, Operations Director.
Photo: a loaded bamboo touring bike on a mountain track; not a programme participant