The Spire Cafe is perched at the peak of Harrow Hill, just off the famous Capital Ring bike and hike trail. It’s run by Sarah and Nick, who turn their brunches and lunches into gold to pay for repairs to the old church roof.
Looking out over the surrounding city, the cafe is the perfect spot for a refreshing cup of tea, a refuelling slab of cake – and donating a bike to The Bike Project!
Because, as well as keeping the cyclists of Harrow well victualled, the Spire Cafe is also one of our heroic bike drop-off points.
They’ve taken in dozens of bikes for us, all of which have been either refurbished and donated directly to refugees or given the snazz-ma-tazz treatment and sold to help fund our work.
What is a drop-off point then?
Drop-off points are an essential spoke in the wheel of our operations. Having a drop-off like the Spire Cafe means our lovely donors don’t have to travel far with their unloved old bike and means we can take more donations from all over London (and the UK – but more on that another time!) and get loads more refugees cycling. Win-win-win!
So we thought it’s about time we trumpeted the priceless work of our partners by featuring the stories behind the cycles. Starting today with the Spire Cafe in Harrow.
Rounding the Circle
For Nick and Sarah, turning their cafe into a Bike Project drop-off point was a no-brainer, the perfect match for their twin passions of getting outside and Doing The Right Thing. “We have so much that it’s fundamentally wrong not to share that,” he says.
Scrolling through Twitter one day, Nick was absolutely thrilled to spot one of the bikes that came through the Spire Cafe in the happy hands of a refugee. Especially as he remembered pulling that bike out of a skip!
“With a bit of skilled love and a little bit of money, a bike from a skip becomes a solution to a problem that must seem intractable at the other end,” Nick told us. “It was nice to round that circle and see that the things we’re doing actually make a difference to real people.”
New Friends, New Conversations
Nick also loves that being a drop-off point brings new people to the Spire Cafe and sparks interesting new conversations with the regulars who wonder why on earth they’re stockpiling bikes in the kitchen! (NOTE: I’m sure the bikes aren’t kept in the kitchen – Health and Safety would have a fit!)
So this week this email is dedicated to all our vital drop-off points for doing so much good work on our behalf, and especially to Sarah and Nick for changing people’s lives for the better. Thank you!
If you or an organisation you know could run a drop-off point for us, then don’t hesitate to ping us an email on info@thebikeproject.co.uk and we’ll guide you through the process.
And, of course, if you ever find yourself up Harrow Hill you know exactly where to find wholesome homemade grub. But Nick is keen to point out that it’s not all vegan soups and gluten free cakes: “I do a cracking bacon and egg roll as well!”
The Spire Cafe (@spirecafe on Twitter) is open this Saturday (tomorrow!) from 10am to 3pm for brunches, lunches, snacks and treats.
Click here for more details about how to donate your old bike with Nick and Sarah, or with any of our many other drop-off points around London and beyond.
