Bristol Bike Project - a short film

For some people bikes are about speed, transport or leisure. For others they are a way of life...

Tonight I called in at Hamilton House in Stokes Croft to meet Colin and James, the founders of Bristol Bike Project. The project helps to restore hundreds of abandoned bikes for underpriviledged groups and it's run entirely by volunteers.

Last year, Alistair Oldham, a lecturer in film-making at The University of the West of England, contacted Colin and James to make a short film about the Bristol Bike Project and the work they do with refugees and asylum-seekers.

The film concentrates on two people who've volunteered time to the project, Dahir from Somalia and Aziz from Afghanistan, explaining their stories and how having a bicycle has helped them in Bristol.

For Dahir and Aziz, bicycles are more than a mode of transport. Bicycles are helping them to build a new life in Bristol, learning skills as they wait for their asylum applications to be processed.

You can find out lots more about bike recycling and asylum seekers through the DVD - and we've got 10 copies to give away. Write to us at betterbybike@bristol.gov.uk and we'll send you a copy (while stocks last).

Alternatively you can find out more about the project by visiting www.thebristolbikeproject.org/about.html. BH