‘Doctor Bike’ mechanic raises almost £10,000 for Nottingham good causes with his repairing skills
Graham Lansdell has been an avid cyclist his whole life
By Callum Wright
A retired Nottingham man has turned his passion for bikes and cycling into a way of helping to support local communities with his repairing expertise – and raised almost £10,000 in the process.
Graham Lansdell, from the Meadows, has been a bike lover all his life – both riding and mending them – and following his retirement wanted to continue his hobby while doing something fulfilling.
He has now taken on a new moniker, being known in the area as ‘Doctor Bike’, through fixing unwanted or broken bikes from a room in his own home. He then transfers them back to their owners or to a loving new home.
“When I retired, I wanted to do something with my skill, I was looking for some volunteering opportunities and I realised that bike mending skills were in short supply and a lot of people would like to get their bike fixed,” Graham said.
Through this hobby Graham got involved with the Friary, a Nottingham-based homelessness support charity in West Bridgford, which is often given broken bikes they are unable to sell on effectively.
After volunteering with the charity, Graham has since helped them by repairing donated bikes and selling them on for a much higher price, with all proceeds going back to the Friary.
“I chose the Friary because my wife had connections with them for a long while and also because it’s a local charity, I can see all the money goes to frontline activities so it really feels like you’re making the maximum impact,” Graham said.
“In the last complete financial year, I sold 173 bikes and raised more than £9,000 for the charity.”
While also volunteering for the charity, Graham also started Cycle Saviours five years ago, a scheme allowing people to bring in broken bikes and have them repaired free of charge while also offering teaching to the riders around essential repairing skills.
Currently based in the Nottingham Energy Partnership’s Climate Hub in the Meadows on Thursdays mornings, Cycle Saviours has grown to a usual team of four and uses any donations to buy new parts and donate any surplus back to the Friary.
Talking about the work he has done for communities across Nottingham, Graham said: “It’s really satisfying, I’m helping homeless people and a good course, some of the bikes otherwise would’ve been thrown away and put in landfill because nobody knew where they could get them recycled and used.
“I’m also helping to get people mobile on bikes who perhaps couldn’t afford to otherwise, because they couldn’t spend several hundred pounds on a new one.”
Graham, who worked in bike shops before retirement, continues to be an avid cyclist, and doesn’t see his work stopping any time soon.
Taking about how long he can keep repairing bikes for, Graham said: “I think more of less all my life as long as I stay fit and can still use my hands and see what I am doing, I think it’s going to be more or less a permanent activity for me.”
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