Hi All,
Someone asking for hints on setting up a workshop has prompted me to post this video on youtube.https://youtu.be/ioiEZ7pot-E https://youtu.be/ioiEZ7pot-E It is both the story of how we moved although once I shot it on the phone I realised I had not remembered everything and bikes are my thing not videos. But more particularly it is a thank you to all the people from community bike shops around the globe who emailed me with hints that we could use when moving, I hope this helps Ulick and anyone else who intends moving. As we moved last October it is still fresh in my memory. Some things I did not mention in the video and for which we received as hints :-
If possible put in insulation, lights ceiling fans ( the flickering in the video) and power points before moving in as it is really difficult to retrofit. Buy the best work stands you can afford.
If you are falling behind schedule, your volunteers are flagging and if you have the funds use tradesmen to complete difficult technical tasks. There is nothing worse than clients and volunteers coming to a closed workshop. We closed for one day and had every volunteer and friend help us move that day. The rest of the time we split our volunteers in to 2 groups. The moving group and those who continued to work on bikes.
Signs and labels everywhere to make it easy for newcomers. Many people are embarrassed to always be asking where items are situated and labels enable volunteers to learn the name of parts and tools themselves.
Finally use your volunteers non- bicycle skills, One of ours is an architect who laid out the space, another who was a demolition guy helped to bring down walls safely and those with welding skills helped with the racks.
Thanks again to you all
Geoff Smart