BikeStormz: bikes up, knives down
- Borough: London-wide
- Organisation: BikeStormz
- Topics: civil society, community life, children and young people
Who we are
BikeStormz began in 2014 to raise awareness about youth violence. The slogan ‘Bikes up, knives down’ encourages young Londoners to get into cycling and not get involved in crime. We advertise our rides on social media and welcome people to join us for a peaceful cycle around areas of London.
Everyone is welcome to join us, whether you are new to cycling or very experienced. When we get together people can learn new tricks, film the content and share what we are doing.
A safe space to make new friends
BikeStormz has evolved over the years and has become a supportive community, regularly holding ride outs across London.
Our group provides a safe space where young people could ride through London together without prejudice or judgement, without fear of violence, a place to make new friends and meet with like minded people.
Although the rides may have started small, now thousands of people attend events, with similar groups taking place abroad.
Changing perceptions, working with the police
At the start of BikeStormz, people thought the riders were being antisocial and were judgemental of seeing a group of young people on bikes.
We are working to change this perception of young people, who are peacefully taking part in a community activity as a way to get away from negative influences that may be in their lives.
We have worked with the police to create a relationship of trust and our rides are now chaperoned by officers on our routes around London. Our members see the police looking after the riders and now when they see local police officers outside of the rides, positive interactions are taking place. This has boosted trust and relationships between police and young people in local communities.
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Being in a position to give back
BikeStormz doesn’t only provide a community for the members, it also gives back. We now support local communities and charities and our riders do the same. We have fundraised for bike maintenance workshops so young people can learn new skills and fix their own bikes.
The changes we would like to see
We would like to see police working with more community groups like us to grow relationships and recognise the young people on bikes can be doing something positive.
Building trust between organisations and local people is really important and impacts everyone involved.
Find out more
Get in touch
If you have any questions about BikeStormz you can get in touch via Instagram at @bikestormzlondon.
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