Bicycles for the community!
Rothar is a social enterprise using bicycles and cycling as a tool to tackle social and environmental challenges at a community level
About You
Background Information
First Name
Anne
Last Name
Bedos
Twitter URL
https://twitter.com/#!/CafeRothar
Facebook URL
The competition is only open to people between 18-34 years-old and resident in UK, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark or the Netherlands. Does this apply to you
Country of residence of entrepreneur
UK
Tell us about your personal background. Why are you passionate about this issue? Making an idea a reality takes innovation, dedication and strong leadership. Do you have the necessary entrepreneurial skills to realize your vision?
I am an avid cyclist and passionate about social change: bicycles combine these two passions as they create healthier citizens, more liveable cities (less pollution and people friendly) and a great sense of community. As an academic (I have a PHD in political science), I believe that employment is the key to economic recovery and social inclusion. Finally, there is something essential, to my mind, about the idea of social change: everyone has a potential that needs to be developed and revealed. Trainees who, for one reason or another, have been away from the job market, can contribute to making a difference in society and providing them with opportunities gives them a sense of dignity and respect – leading to a fairer society.
Rothar is also a logical progression: I started volunteering in 1997 in a bicycle advocacy group (Droit au Velo in Lille, France). As a student, it was vital for me to have an affordable means of transport and to learn how to fix bicycles, (I couldn’t afford bike shop repairs). Simultaneously, I started volunteering with an after school programme with migrant children in an impoverished area. I then decided to make a change in my local area by involving myself further in both organisations and fixing bikes for free. I moved to Ireland in 2004 and continued to volunteer with the Dublin Adult Learning Centre and the North West Inner City Network. I combined both my interests by founding Rothar in February 2008, first repairing bikes in my back garden. As a finance officer in a government agency, I saw a lot of groups having financial difficulties when public funding was running out: I therefore decided to create a social enterprise. Social enterprises provide the benefits of a profit making business (the quality of services has to remain steady to ensure the customer base grows) combined with a social mission: the community benefits directly from the money it makes.
About Your Organization
Organization Name
Rothar
Organization Website
Organization Country
Ireland, DB
Country where this project is creating social impact
Ireland, DB, Dublin
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
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Innovation
The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?
Scarce resources, environmental destruction and social inequalities are key challenges in today's society. Rothar is a bicycle-recycling project with a dual mission: to provide development opportunities to at-risk populations in Dublin and to promote environmental stewardship.
Rothar addresses several issues:
1. Low numbers of cyclists / traffic congestion
2. Economic /geographic isolation of disadvantaged groups: asylum seekers, people who experience homelessness
3. Prohibitive costs of bicycles making it inaccessible to low income families
4. Long term unemployment and lack of training for at risk population (young offenders, ex offenders, people who have been homeless)
Bicycles can help tackle local (transport, poverty) and global issues (e.g.global warming)
The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!
Rothar reuses and recycles scrap bicycles, reducing waste, providing a sustainable mode of transport and community-based education to promote social inclusion. We develop this dual mission with the following activities:
- Collect donated unwanted bicycles and refurbish them
- Establish a supply of high quality second hand bikes to the general public and community groups
- Train at-risk people in bicycle mechanics, build skills in basic business concepts
- Operate a community based bicycle shop
- Offer classes on bicycle repairs and bicycle riding.
- Offer a workstation, tools and advice to people wishing to repair their own bike
Since 2008 we have been able to support dozens of people into cycling for the first time, given hundreds of old bicycles a new life, helped dozens of at risk people gain skills and get jobs in the cycling industry. We promote inclusive cycling for all, encouraging the health and wellbeing of everybody in the community we live in.
The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities
Rothar created 4 full time jobs since its creation and trained 45 volunteers (including 12 who found jobs afterwards in other bike shops). Rothar also offered work placements to ex-offenders in collaboration with Jobcare. “Mark” is one of Rothar's success stories. Mark is a 40 year old man from Ballymun. He has a history of substance misuse and spent some time in jail. He was referred to Rothar by Jobcare for a work placement. He followed a bike mechanic training course in Rothar for three months. When the Rediscovery Centre contacted Rothar to get volunteers, Mark was the perfect candidate. He is now the head mechanic in the Recycabike project which started in November 2010 and is employed full time.
The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?
Rothar offers a unique product and service: refurbished custom built bicycles. Our social and environmental missions differentiate us from any other bicycle retailer in Ireland. Most for-profit bike shops in Dublin and Ireland sell new bikes and Rothar is the only company offering only recycled bicycles. Most other bicycle shops only offer new parts, Rothar provides cheaper used parts providing an affordable alternative further reducing waste and encouraging a reuse mentality. Another project, Cork Community Bikes, does provide the same services. However, it is an entirely volunteer project and operates only 2 days a week. A potential threat would be other bike shops seeing an opportunity to generate more revenue. It is therefore essential for Rothar to provide high quality bikes.
Select the stage that best applies to your business
Operating for 1-5 years
This Entry is about (Issues)
Social Impact
What is the social impact you have had to date and how you measure it?
Rothar so far:
- Creation of four full-time jobs in 3 years
- Pool of 40 actively rostered volunteers: 12 of these volunteers found jobs in other bike shops
- Work placements with referral agencies.
- Launched a training centre in January 2011, providing bike maintenance classes to the general public
- To date, Rothar has diverted 1000 bikes from landfill (approx 40 tonnes of waste). 800 of these bikes have been sold at an affordable price. The remaining 200 bikes have been stripped for parts and / or recycled
Rothar provides services with measurable targets:
- Reports are created at the end of each work placement
- Software to account for the amount of bikes taken in / sold / scrapped is installed in our shop computers.
-A database of donated bikes to charities is in place
Sustainability
How does your model address financial, social, and environmental sustainability?
Financial: Rothar has consistently demonstrated that it can generate profits from its activities while fulfilling is social charter: it has already developed 2 retail outlets and a training unit. It never depended on funding - we developed activities (moving to a high street, opening of the training centre) - thanks to the awards it won.We multiplied our revenue threefold from year 1 to 3. It also diversified its revenue stream by providing classes and opening a cafe (Dec 2011), making it more stable.
Social: Rothar has been training people from disadvantaged backgrounds since its creation (about 50 a year) and the demand is high: by March 2012, all bike maintenance classes were full four weeks in advance. Also, thanks to its tailored training programme, volunteers or people referred by agencies can find work or training opportunities in a growing company. Finally, thanks to is steady financial situation, Rothar is able to donate more and more to other charities every year, enabling low income families to access transport and their children to play.
Environmental: Rothar has so far diverted 1000 bikes from landfill (40 tonnes of waste) and thanks to its promising growth, envisages to recycle 2000 bikes a year by 2013. 80% of the bikes received at Rothar are reused and sold / donated, the remaining 20% are dismantled for parts to use in repairs. It also is a reference in the field of bicycle advocacy in Dublin
Awareness & learning
How do you see social entrepreneurship contributing to the improvement of developing countries?
Social entrepreneurs share the same ambition: combining an economic project with a social goal. For them, financial gain is not the goal: community gain outweighs it. In developing countries, social enterprises are also successful (e.g. : micro credit and Nobel Prize winner Mohamed Yunus). In this instance, instead of depending on external investors, the Grameen Bank loans small sums to people so that they can start their own business. This is a potentially great way to develop countries still confronted with poverty, lack of opportunities and investment. Creating companies with the common good at the core of their actions has the potential to empower communities and encourage the creation of local businesses, boosting the local economy and making developing countries less dependent on external aid.
What aspects of your stay in Uganda as part of the competition do you think you will find most challenging and rewarding?
I have never been to a developing country. I have worked with disadvantaged kids and adults in my home country and in Ireland, but I do speak the "same language", i.e. I know the city, the culture etc. Even then, it can be difficult enough for me to understand what their everyday challenges are. In a totally different setting, getting into the mind of someone who has a completely different experience than yourself, finding some common ground and building something positive out of it is possibly the most difficult thing to do. Also, as Westerners, we are used to accessing resources that people in developing countries simply cannot. Working with very few resources, and building creativity from it might be the most challenging part of the stay.
On a professional basis, sharing my own business experience with the local community would definitely be a huge reward and a great experience. Sharing ideas is always a great entrepreneurial journey!
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| rothar_2logo.jpg | 115.76 KB |
 | 15 weeks agoAnne Bedos updated this Competition Entry. |
| 15 weeks agoAnne Bedos updated this Competition Entry. |
| 15 weeks agoAnne Bedos updated this Competition Entry. |
| 15 weeks agoAnne Bedos updated this Competition Entry. |
| 15 weeks agoAnne Bedos updated this Competition Entry. |
| 15 weeks agoAnne Bedos updated this Competition Entry. |
| 16 weeks agoAnne Bedos updated this Competition Entry. |
| 16 weeks agoAnne Bedos updated this Competition Entry. |
| 16 weeks agoAnne Bedos submitted this idea. |
