Born again bikes

By Kate Taylor

It’s a morning so cold that you can see the fog of your breath before you and still, the chink of a chisel, followed by the soft thump of a hammer, is coming from Neil Harris’ shed.

With a bike laid out in many, many parts before him, the day begins – and it will end with Neil going to sleep thinking about what colour he might paint his rescue project.

It’s a labour of love, as much as anything, and for Neil, it’s also been an incredibly charitable way to spend his retirement.

Every day, from 6am to 6pm, Neil is in his shed restoring bicycles to give to kids who don’t have many good things in their lives.

“I remember when I was a young boy, and mum and dad couldn’t afford a bicycle, I used to sit on the kerb and watch the other kids riding them around…” Neil remembers.

It all started just three months ago – but Neil wishes he’d thought of it a long time before.

“I’d been working for 45 years, as an engineer and as a construction manager, and for the first three months of retirement I was lost. I saw these bikes at the tip one day, and I thought it’d be a good job to fix them up,” Neil explains.

Since then he’s done about 40 bikes – but, if he has a steady line-up of bikes in need, he can average about five a day if they’re not trying to give him too much trouble.

Read the full story in latest edition (13th June).