support crew

Community beliefs

We absolutely love what we do. We get to spend time designing, crafting, manufacturing, dreaming and testing. Yet we couldn't do this without you. Without you, we wouldn't be able to sustain the business, and our dream would come crashing down to our knees. Sometimes you may not realise it, but you are also part of a community. Look to the left and then the right, and I can almost guarantee that there will be someone around you who you care for; they are part of your community.

Without the communities surrounding us, we wouldn't exist, nor be the vibrant growing company that we are. As such we vowed to be different than other companies, and to help out those that help us; it is our aim to return something to this community, to help keep it vibrant. It might not be to a community specifically cycling related; it could be something to do with a homeless shelter. But what ever it is, we want to help out to thank the community for their support.

As we are currently very small it is hard for us to give something back that has any meaning. Financial help is harder still as every cent earned is gently caressed into the next building block to help us grow. A $5 donation now wouldn't make much of a difference to the community, yet re-invested in BOgear would turn into a $500 community donation down the track. And so although we cannot help out financially now, we plan to in the future.

So that leaves us with another valuable commodity; time. BOgear cannot donate money, but it sure can donate time. One particular organisation that we have been donating our time to is Guide Dogs Queensland. We have been doing this by raising a Guide Dog in training, named Helen. She is a black Labrador.

I know you think we must be crazy having a puppy run around our design and manufacturing studio. And to be honest, we think we are crazy too! But heck has it been fun and intensely rewarding!

What does this entail?
We will be raising Helen and introducing her to all walks of life for a period of 12-14 months (we started in September 2009). After this we will be handing her back to Guide Dogs Queensland, where she will be trained into a fully fledged guide dog. After completing her training, she will be introduced to her new owner where she will assist them in their exploration of the world. We will not be raising a puppy, but rather an intelligent being who in turn will help someone else.

How will this affect you?
For starters you will probably be inundated with photos and posts about her growth and development! Orders may also take slightly longer. With this we really appreciate your patience; that being said we will endeavor to make sure orders are filled in a timely fashion. If it means working into the early hours of the morning, so be it! Also, should you ever meet Helen in person, please do not pat her, or acknowledge her. She needs to learn that people aren't here to meet her, but rather the person on the other end of her leash!

And now for her photos. Be warned, she is ridiculously cute! Check out all the Helen photos on our Flickr!

Very Regal!