The Percy Centre gears up with the help of BWCE

Earlier this year, the Percy Centre received £2,044 from the BWCE fund to purchase and install a bike repair station. BWCE volunteer Helen Turnbull went to meet Roger Houghton, the Percy Centre Manager, to find out what they do and how they have used the grant.

The Percy Centre endeavours to support the local community as much as possible, with ten rooms offering activities from dancing to kick boxing, welfare programmes to baby and toddler groups. Currently, the centre is run by 14 members of staff and has 20,000 users a year with 25 different activities a week.

This inspiring local outreach stems from the Percy Boys Club, which was founded in 1940. This organisation created a joyful community which flourished into The Percy Community Centre, becoming an independent charity in 1991.

I met with Roger Houghton, the Percy Centre Manager and the architect of this project. He explained that as the Percy Centre is situated on New King Street, a street part of Bath City cycling route, it made perfect sense to install it.

By providing the community with access to bike repair tools that many might not have at home, the Percy Centre’s thoughtful installation encourages more environmentally friendly travel.

It’s designed to hold the bike between the two bars at the top whilst the users can repair the bike with screwdrivers, keys, spanners and more. Painted in the Percy Centre colour, the station also has a handy tyre pressure guide.

As of mid-August, the station has been up and running for a month, with lots of positive responses from people who pass by. Alongside servicing bikes, Roger noted a few young people using it to pump up their footballs, proving to be a multifaceted success!

Roger noted that their aim for this station is to provide a service which he felt people in the area needed, boosting the flow of generosity that the centre promotes.

As the Percy Community Centre is an independent charity, it relies on its own enterprise to cover its costs. The organisation hugely appreciates any charitable donations to keep this valuable asset to the community running.

To find out more, have a look at their website: The Percy Centre.

Or visit New King Street, Bath, Somerset, BA1 2BN.

The Percy Centre welcomes all!