The Scottish Government’s free bikes initiative did average £711 per bike delivered. But the cost also covered staffing, training, helmets & maintenance. More in our fact check:

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Our reporters took a deep dive into the murkiness of Scottish politics and revealed who is influencing our politicians, which business interests are wielding power outside of parliament, and who is impacting our environment and climate.

And thanks to our members, we were able to run to publish a Who Runs Scotland (part two) series this year, after a successful crowdfunding campaign raised more than £11,000.

Since then, we’ve regularly invited members to suggest and vote on investigations. In 2023, they backed a special fact-checking series, Scotland and the Climate Crisis, exploring climate denial, government plans, and Scotland’s changing snow cover.

As a co-operative, we’ve worked hard to ensure our members have a real say in what we investigate. Our first two projects — on fracking and the hidden crisis of abused women with insecure immigration status — were chosen by our members 🧵 .

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The claim each bike cost £700 leaves out that the figure also includes running costs. The actual average direct bike cost was around £354.

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We has also travelled to Bosnia, France, Greece, Turkey, and Syria, among other countries. Our award-winning international reporting is featured in an academic book from Routledge called Journalism, Power and Investigation.

Tens of thousands of civilians fled but an estimated 300,000 people remain trapped inside the western part of Mosul. Our multi-media series won a Scottish Press Award.

In 2017, The Ferret visited Iraq to cover the Battle for Mosul after a major offensive had been launched by Kurds and Iraqis in an attempt to rout Islamic State from the city of Mosul.

Last year we travelled to Canada to see how Toronto was tackling rising drug deaths from fentanyl. Our podcast, which won a Scottish Press Award, documented a safer consumption site there, ahead of the UK’s first opening in Glasgow.

As we mark our 10th anniversary, we’re revisiting some of The Ferret’s most important international reporting. While our core focus has always been Scotland, we've also pursued stories that reach far beyond our borders 🧵.

🔎Fact check: . Social media picked up on a news article claiming the Scottish Government's scheme for 'free bikes for children' had cost £700 per bike. 🚴‍♀️ . The reality is a bit more complex ⤵️.

Councils sell off 1,850 properties amidst budget shortfalls.

@HuffPostUK The death of Sheku Bayoh in 2015, after being restrained by up to six police officers in Kirkcaldy, led us to cover the ongoing public inquiry. Our podcast series Sheku Bayoh: The Inquiry has since been shortlisted for multiple awards.

@HuffPostUK We reported on drug deaths in Dundee, child poverty in Fife, and how austerity was affecting people with disabilities. Find out more here 👉

We worked on a major project with @HuffPostUK that was nominated for an Amnesty International Media Award. This four-part series in 2019 highlighted the hardship people in Scotland faced after the 2008 recession and years of austerity.

In 2020, for example, Scotland’s national records office announced it would, for the first time, publish official figures on deaths among homeless people. This came after our investigation found nearly two people died every week while homeless.