NRMA Local Hero: Alan Ventress restores bikes for community
Most people wouldn’t give a second thought to a bicycle sitting on the council tip, but for Manly retiree Alan Ventress, it represents a vital opportunity for someone in the community.
For the past six years, Ventress has toiled away on a personal volunteering project which has helped hundreds of people in northern Sydney. He locates otherwise discarded bicycles of all shapes and sizes, restores them in his garage, and gives them away.
All told, this NRMA Local Hero has restored 620 bicycles at the time of writing. Most are placed out the front of his Manly house with a ‘free bike’ sign and are promptly snapped up by passers-by, while the best examples are given to the Dalwood Children’s Services to raise funds.
“I noticed lots of bikes being thrown out and appearing on council clean-ups, so I thought I’d do something about it by collecting them and learning to fix them,” Ventress, a 50-year NRMA member, tells Open Road.
How a lifelong obsession with cycling spurred on Alan's efforts
Ventress’ affinity with cycling runs deep. Growing up in North Yorkshire in the UK, his grandmother gifted him a Raleigh bike at a young age, as well as money whenever he needed spare parts for basic repairs.
“Having a bike gave me a sense of freedom,” he says. “I was brought up on a farm – it was very remote and quite a grim existence to be frank. The bike gave me the freedom and joy of moving around.”
Alan migrated to Australia at the age of 21 and finished his professional life as the director of the NSW State Archives, which helps explain why every bike he restores is documented and photographed.
“Australia has been wonderfully kind to me,” the 76-year-old says. “I literally had no money when I came here – nothing at all. I remember I lost my wallet at one point. This was in Freemantle and someone actually handed it in. My first week’s pay was still in the wallet, and I’ve always remembered that because I was really struggling at that time.”
The good, the bad and the ugly of bicycle restoration
The bicycles Alan recovers come in various states of disrepair. Usually one of his many ‘spotters’ around the community will alert him to a find on a council tip pile, prompting Alan to rush over in his 50-year-old Volkswagen Kombi – nicknamed the bike ambulance.
“Some of them are absolute wrecks. In that situation I just strip them down to bits for spare parts,” Alan says. “I’ve got a garage full of tyres and inner tubes and wheels and frames, plus goodness knows what else – much to the annoyance of my wife, but she knows that I’m doing it for a good cause.”
In other instances, Alan will service bikes for anyone who asks at no charge. If anything, his main form of currency is a can of WD-40.
But Alan says the most rewarding part of his work is seeing the bicycles make a difference to a total stranger’s life. “By giving people that little break, giving them a leg-up, it makes me feel good. Using my hands and keeping busy has been a very positive outcome for me as well.”
