TALES FROM THE WORKSHOP
“If we made a difference to that one person, that’s enough for me”
Graeme Freestone King, director at Velotech Cycling, shares an encounter with a man who completed his Velotech Gold Certifi cate while in prison
about 10 mechanics there, from five or six shops. At the end, after a long and lively Q&A session to finish
A
the day, one of the guys was quite slow to pick his personal belongings up and join his colleague with whom he’d travelled – that’s usually a sign (as most trainers know) that an attendee “wants a word” – maybe something not fully understood, or a further query. The gentleman simply said quietly: “I wanted a private
word - and I wanted to shake your hand.” There was an intensity about him and I was a little taken aback. I offered him my hand and as he shook it, he looked me
straight in the eye and said: “I was on a life sentence at a category A prison (I don’t want to name it here) and while I was inside, I did my Velotech Gold Certificate. It’s the only certificate I have for anything that I have ever studied for. “It took me two years but inside, you don’t really think about that. When I got out, I applied for a job with the
W
e teach to an industry recognised standard and have around 30 satellite workshops which teach our accreditation, around a third to a half of them based in prisons, the rest in a mixture of social enterprises and commercial workshops offering training on a commercial basis.
bout four years ago, I was teaching a high- level Campagnolo Technical Course at one of Campagnolo’s wholesaler’s premises. There were
D
ocument everything and have rock-solid work processes in place. Don’t skimp on tooling. Train your mechanics and give them the opportunity for continuing professional development – it improves their skills, helps them to feel valued and allows them to share best practice with like minded mechanics with other experience. None of us have all the answers individually but collectively, we have most of them!
shop I’m at now, and the owner took a risk and took me on. It’s the first full time job I have ever had. It’s thanks to the Velotech programme. I understand that you trained my trainer. So I wanted to thank you.” And with that, he left. The gentleman concerned is still at
that retailer and has been on other courses with us since. It’s been a privilege to have him work with us. So when some of my more cynical colleagues tell me that
we are wasting our time working in the prisons, in social enterprises, with recycling schemes and the like, some even hinting that, because we choose not to work with an awarding body, what we do is somehow second rate and “not for the real cycle trade”, I just smile and think of that man and let it wash over me. If we made a difference to that one person, that’s enough for me. ■
Do you have a funny, eye-opening, or important story from the workshop? Email
rebecca.morley@
biz-media.co.uk or
alex.ballinger@
biz-media.co.uk for a chance to feature in BikeBiz.
46 | May 2022
www.bikebiz.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60
