Commission practical design-and-make learning for your school, college or youth setting. Start with your learners and choose an activity, from a bamboo speaker to digital design.
Discuss a design-and-make activity for your group. Bring your aims, learner support needs and reporting requirements so the delivery brief can be scoped with your team.
We're a Community Interest Company with a bike shop attached, not a charity with a gift shop.
Bamboo Mobility Project CIC · 16257348: programmes, education and community delivery. Bamboo Bicycle Club London Ltd · 10809302: the workshop, kits and designs.
working with us
plan delivery with your team.
access & SEND
Tell us about access, SEND, communication and sensory needs, and the support already available. Discuss adjustments before choosing the activity.
room, tools & staffing
Bring details of the room, tables, ventilation and storage. Set out who will supervise, which tools are involved and how any curing or finishing will be managed.
safeguarding
Safeguarding policy in place. Agree the setting’s safeguarding contacts, supervision, consent and photography arrangements before booking.
reporting
Set out the evidence you need: attendance, participation, learner feedback and any follow-up. Agree the measures and reporting scope in the brief.
Discuss supplier onboarding, the purchase order and your due-diligence requirements as part of the brief. Ask about the documents needed for your setting.
build activities and prison courses
These school, college and youth routes are design-and-make activities. They do not include OCN credits.
Our two prison programmes are accredited by OCN London at Level 2: the six-week training (1130735) and the two-week Build to Bond (1131207). Both are bespoke, non-regulated courses.
Credits require learner registration, assessment to the approved specification, internal quality assurance and OCN external quality assurance. School-age or club delivery needs OCN confirmation before credits can be advertised.
Choose the learning focus first. Timings, group size, staffing and the build stage or prototype to work towards belong in your delivery brief.
01
speaker sessiontaster · speaker activity
Agreed in your delivery briefGroup size agreed before booking
Engagement
Awareness
Accessible STEM
A hands-on introduction to bamboo, sustainable design and practical engineering.
Explore bamboo, tools and product design through a classroom speaker activity. Discuss the tasks and support needed for your group.
cohort
Group size agreed before booking
format
whole-group activity
duration
Agreed in your delivery brief
pricing
based on cohort size and delivery format
activity
bamboo speaker activity
material
bamboo & regenerative design
learning
STEM, sustainability & practical skills
progression — A low-barrier introduction that can lead into pathways 02–05.
02
balance bike builddesign & make
Agreed in your delivery briefGroup size agreed before bookingbuild activity
Design & make
Teamwork
Practical skills
A balance-bike build activity with a focus on design, making and teamwork.
Explore technical drawings, hand tools and joining methods through selected build tasks. Agree the build stage to work towards, including any curing and finishing, in the delivery brief.
cohort
Group size agreed before booking
format
Group tasks; staffing agreed in the brief
duration
Agreed in your delivery brief
pricing
Scope and materials agreed in your quotation
course scope
A design-and-make activity; OCN credits are not included.
progression — Discuss further design-and-make learning with your teaching team.
03
enterprisebusiness skills
Agreed in your delivery briefGroup size agreed before booking
Enterprise
Teamwork
Employability
From idea to pitch — practical enterprise learning built around a real product.
Students create their own bike business, developing a brand, product and commercial idea while building skills in teamwork, budgeting, marketing, problem-solving and pitching.
cohort
Group size agreed before booking
format
teams
duration
Agreed in your delivery brief
pricing
based on cohort size and delivery format
build
bike business concept
skills
branding, costing & pitching
learning
enterprise, communication & problem-solving
progression — Practise explaining a business idea; discuss next steps with your teaching or support team.
04
e-bike buildapplied science
Agreed in your delivery briefGroup size agreed before booking
Electric drivetrains on bamboo frames — hands-on STEM, sustainable transport and future technology.
Explore motors, batteries, sensors and controllers through supervised tasks. Agree the equipment, assembly stage and any testing with the delivery team before booking.
cohort
Group size agreed before booking
format
Group tasks; staffing agreed in the brief
duration
Agreed in your delivery brief
pricing
Scope and materials agreed in your quotation
build
agreed e-bike assembly tasks
tech
motors, sensors & controllers
learning
applied science, engineering & maths
progression — Explore questions about electric drivetrains and sustainable transport.
05
ai & 3d printingfuture-ready
Agreed in your delivery briefGroup size agreed before booking
From digital design to physical parts — practical skills in AI, CAD and 3D printing.
Explore AI-assisted design, CAD and 3D printing through a prototype brief. Agree the software, equipment and prototype to work towards before booking.
cohort
Group size agreed before booking
format
teams
duration
Agreed in your delivery brief
pricing
based on cohort size and delivery format
build
design study or prototype
tech
CAD, AI tools & 3D printing
learning
design, prototyping & manufacturing
progression — Discuss further study in design and digital fabrication with your teaching team.
The classroom speaker build is free. Discuss the scope and costs of other activities before booking. A build activity does not include OCN credits or a promise of a completed bicycle for use.
BBC delivered a one-day Enterprise and Balance Bike Building pilot for Camden Council at Euston Skills Centre. Six young people were recorded and one completed the full day; the pilot produced redesign lessons for future supported delivery.
Tell us the time available and the learning you want to focus on. Use these formats to start the discussion; a short session covers selected tasks, not a complete build or qualification.
school format
timing to agree
typical use
activity to discuss
Lesson / period
Agreed in your delivery brief
Introduction or discussion
Speaker introduction · enterprise discussion
Double lesson
Agreed in your delivery brief
Selected practical tasks
Speaker activity · enterprise tasks
Half day
Agreed in your delivery brief
Taster or selected build tasks
Scope a task; not a complete bike build
Full / drop-down day
Agreed in your delivery brief
A scoped sequence of activities
Agree activity and build stage first
Multi-day programme
Agreed in your delivery brief
A longer sequence of selected tasks
Build or prototype scope agreed in advance
Timings and group limits are agreed for the chosen tasks. Allow for setup, learner support, curing and finishing where relevant.
Crafting bamboo bicycles goes beyond the workshop; it's a journey of innovation, environmental responsibility, and the integration of STEM principles.
Nick Mills, Head of Design, Bradfield College — D&T Practice magazine, January 2024
1
room, tools and setup
Discuss the room, work surfaces, equipment, storage and time for setup. Confirm what your setting and the delivery team each need to provide.
2
staffing and support
Discuss staff experience, supervision and learner support before choosing the tasks. Confirm any training or resources your team needs.
3
design-and-make learning
School and college activities do not include OCN credits. See the separate prison-course information above for the approved qualification scope.
4
agree the scope and costs
Discuss the learner group, activity and delivery format. Confirm the scope and costs in your quotation before booking.
Bamboo is a fast-growing, renewable material. The film shows a frame under load; it does not certify the output of a school activity.
material evidence — 84.3 MPa: bamboo tubing tested at Swansea University to BS ISO 22157:2019. This is tubing evidence, not a test of a newly built frame.
learning through tools — discuss hand-tool tasks and the support needed to take part.
Learning through materials — explore materials, design choices and joining methods.
one frame, many entry points
bamboo speaker
balance bike
road & gravel frame
e-bike
3D-printed lugs
bespoke frames
community & councils
plan a community programme.
Choose a practical activity around your group and setting. Discuss participation, support, staffing and the evidence your commissioner needs before booking.
councils
violence reduction units
youth hubs
PRUs
community trusts
BBC delivered a one-day Enterprise and Balance Bike Building pilot for Camden Council at Euston Skills Centre. Six young people were recorded and one completed the full day; the pilot produced redesign lessons for future supported delivery. This is BBC’s own pilot report, not a commissioner endorsement or a wider impact result.
read about the Camden pilot →
These are aims to discuss for your group. Agree what can be observed and reported; they are not guaranteed learner outcomes.
practical skills
Practise selected making tasks and talk about what was learned.
design learning
Explore a brief, record design choices and reflect on the process.
transport & materials
Discuss transport and material choices through the activity.
participation
Agree the support and adjustments needed, then review who took part and where barriers remained.
next steps
Discuss further learning with the school, college or youth team.
the instructor app
discuss the resources for your setting.
Use these lesson-screen examples to discuss what your staff need. Agree materials, training, access and support before delivery.
run of day, timedsafety first, every sessionrecording learning
recognition
Financial Times · prison education feature · 5 September 2025
Guardian Bike Blog · 16 November 2012
Kevin McCloud's Green Heroes, Grand Designs Live 2018
D&T Practice magazine, January 2024
The National Lottery Community Fund awarded £18,000 to Pedal Forward in 2025.
track record
schools, colleges and universities on record.
universities
UCL · Imperial College London · King’s College London · London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine · London South Bank University · Oxford Brookes University · University of Surrey · University of Manchester · Swansea University · University of Warwick · Coventry University · University of Exeter · Nottingham Trent University
schools & colleges
Southbank UTC · Bradfield College · Kingswood School, Bath · The Judd School · Harborne Academy · James Brindley School, Birmingham · Reed’s School, Cobham · Verulam School, St Albans · Bearsden Academy, Glasgow
The approved archive list records 13 universities and 9 schools or colleges through orders, workshops or builds. These are historical relationships, not a list of current delivery partners.
next steps
book a discovery call.
Tell us your setting, learner group, aims, available time and support needs. Include the decisions or evidence your head, commissioner or funder needs.
Watch the balance-bike build process. For a school or youth activity, agree the tasks, supervision and intended build stage with the delivery team. The tutorial does not establish suitability for riding or OCN credits.
Choosing a selection results in a full page refresh.
community
