The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Doing their bit to help
To donate to Helping Whittlesey, visit: https:// www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/wwcc
A resident in Peterborough • is fixing people’s bikes for free - in return for a good deed.
Garry Keller began by helping out an individual whose bike kept suffering punctures while out and about, before offering his services more widely.
Since then he has been inundated with requests for help and has fixed more than 40 bikes in the past four weeks, with his only request being that the recipients of his good deed do something nice for someone else in return.
Garry, an IT engineer and photographer who lives in Orton Northgate, said: “I decided to offer my services out to my local neighbourhood after I saw a post on Facebook.
“A lady, whose son kept getting punctures while out on his bike rides, put out a plea for help so I offered to fix their bike for them for free.
“That made me think there must be others who have bikes but are not able to ride them as they may also be broken, so I put a post out on my local neighbourhood page. That was about four weeks ago and since then I have fixed over 40 bikes. The repairs have ranged from fixing punctures to adjusting brakes and even complete bike rebuilds.
“I’ve never asked for payment, instead I’ve just requested that for each bike I fix the owner does something nice for someone else. It doesn’t take me much for me to do what I am doing but I know it can make a big difference, and that is all I ask of those I help.
“One lady, whose spare bike I fixed, has offered the bike out for local residents to use if they do not own their own.
“I think this has really helped increase the sense of community spirit in the area and I am really enjoying seeing the other things people are doing.
“I’ve seen neighbours helping with shopping, rainbows in windows for children to spot on their walks and one lady has also been hiding treasure bags for the kids to find.
“People have been exceptionally good at maintaining social distance by dropping the bikes off at the end of my drive. I then wipe the bikes down with antibacterial wipes and keep the bikes stored for a couple of days before working on them.
“My neighbour Richard has even been helping me when I get busy!”
Garry is offering his help to Ortons residents who get in touch via a local residents’ page.
Whittlesey Concert
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Band has compiled a version of ‘I Want to Break Free’ from Queen to make people smile during the Covid-19 lockdown.
Band members normally meet every Thursday but have been unable to do so since the lockdown begun. The band has also had three performances cancelled due to the pandemic.
The Queen classic which each member of the band recorded in their own home last weekend was cleverly pulled together by conductor Kevin Mackie.