Rolling Horse Community Cycle started out in 2010 as a group of mechanics from ForestView Church visiting geared to income neighbourhoods and repairing bicycles for children, youth and adults. We continue to do this, though we have grown.
In 2012 we based our operations out of Next Door Social Space in Aldershot. From here we were able to offer drop in bike repair to community members in a storefront atmosphere while also providing a space for people to volunteer as bike mechanics and to build their own skills.
In 2013 we expanded our offerings out of Next Door Social Space, keeping more regular hours and employing a summer intern mechanic. Bikes were sold at an affordable price instead of given away as a means of returning dignity back to the customer, allowing them to know that their dollars contributed towards more bikes being refurbished for more people. Meanwhile, we hosted our first Youth Mechanic Training Program and continued to go into the Halton Region Housing sites to host free repair clinics.
In 2014 we were able to provide more refurbished bikes to more people and expanded our youth mechanic program possible through a 3 way agreement between Rolling Horse, Halton Region and Kerr Street Ministries.
In 2015 we were able to continue operating out of the Next Door Social Space on Wednesday and Saturday. We also hosted a full roster of community repair clinics.
In 2019, our 3-week Novice Mechanic course was initiated.
n 2020/21 due to Covid-19 we faced many challenges. We have continued to provide basic bike repair as well as a wide variety of refurbished bikes.
Over the Christmas break we renovated the shop to help open the shop up and make it look more inviting as well as to help with the social distancing requirements. We have added 1 new mechanic workstation for a total of 5. All stations are at least 6 feet / 2 meters apart and are each equipped with all the tools needed to fix a bike so that no sharing of tools is required.
In 2022, we resumed our community clinics, youth programs, and bicycle repair courses. Please inquire if you are interested in any of these programs.
In 2023, strategic planning and mission development were a major focus. Rolling Horse continued to operate, enjoying its most successful Tour d’Aldershot fundraiser and selling/giving away more bikes in 2024 than ever before, all while being run with volunteers only.
Our 2-week Bicycle Bearings and Truing Your Wheels courses were introduced.
Rolling Horse Community Cycle is part of the social enterprise, Next Door Social Space (NDSS), working alongside Next Door Community Kitchen.
