Queen’s University Belfast

The Big Loop Bike Hub at Queen’s University Belfast

Working in partnership with the Turnaround Project (a local social enterprise), Queen’s University launched a ‘cycling hub’ at the beginning of the 2021 academic year.

The hub, known as ‘The Big Loop Bike Hub’, is a regular physical presence on site, offering a wide range of services, including bike leasing, bike servicing and sale of refurbished bikes to staff and students throughout the year.

The hub offers staffing opportunities for volunteers, with the potential for volunteer opportunities for students from Volunteer SU, and people who are transitioning out of custodial or community sentences into employment.

The Bike Hub provides training and rehabilitation, as well as the opportunity to work and gain vital employability skills.

Annual carbon savings achieved with the initiative:

• CO2t savings 2021/2022: estimated - 2.3 CO2t over the 2021/2022 academic year (September to April).
• This could be very difficult to calculate as we do not track bike users’ mileage and whether they were car users prior to purchasing/leasing bikes.
• We could potentially estimate CO2t saved over an academic year by estimating that students/staff/local residents travel with their Bike Hub bicycles on a daily basis within a 3-mile radius around Queen’s University.

Top 3 Learnings

1. Sustainability and acting for the environment have provided a common ground for our staff, students, and our local community to collaborate on, and drive local action for climate change.
2. Working with the local social enterprise, The Turnaround Project, enhanced and encouraged community involvement within our programme, as well as providing volunteering opportunities for students involved in a branch of Queen’s Students’ Union: Volunteer SU.
3. We have achieved long-term project legacy and impact by connecting it with our city and improving the employability skills of young people exiting the social justice system.