Electric Scooter Repair Workshops - LOCO X Foróige

When LOCO Scooters was just an idea and some notes scribbled in a journal, we were clear that we would be an organisation with a strong sense of social responsibility and we included in our business plan our overarching ambition to leave our community a better place than we found it. As electric scooters become a more common feature in urban life we thought that it would be a good fit to pass on some of our electric scooter repairs knowledge to young people in our community.

It gives us great pride to introduce you to a project we are working on in conjunction with The HAY Youth Diversion Project, delivering electric scooter repair tutorials to at-risk young people in the North Inner City. The HAY is a Garda Youth Diversion Project operated by Foróige which works with young people mainly aged 12-18, male and female, but can also offer early intervention for younger people and aftercare support for young people transitioning into adult services.

Garda Youth Diversion Projects are community-based and supported youth development projects which seek to divert young people from becoming involved (or further involved) in anti-social or criminal behaviour. These projects facilitate personal development and promote civic responsibility. The HAY GYDP Catchment area covers Summerhill, Ballybough, Gardner Street, Mountjoy Square, Portland Row & Place, North Strand, and can cover streets or estates bordering around these areas.

In this part of the North Inner City, electric scooters and e-bikes have become a huge part of life, especially for young people. Empowering these teenagers and young adults to fix electric scooters themselves offers them an opportunity to learn new skills while saving themselves some money and ensuring that their e-scooter or electric bike is always on the road. Learning practical skills like fixing electric scooters will enable young people to get jobs in this industry as it grows over the next few years.

In our first week, our repair centre manager Jody worked with Kai on his Segway Ninebot Max electric scooter. This e-scooter was one of a handful of electric scooters very kindly donated to the project by An Garda Síochána. Kai learned how to service an electric scooter and was able to fully safety check his new scooter. Jody also helped Kai to turn his into a waterproof electric scooter, something that’s quite important given the Irish climate! Kai made his Segway Ninebot Max unique by installing a front suspension to give it that extra comfort.

None of this would have been possible without the hard work and dedication of David, Dani and Hillary from The HAY Project and we are grateful to be in a position to assist them with the great work that they are doing in our community. We are looking forward to running some more workshops after Christmas!