Shamsiya Hussainpoor
Ferntree Gully resident Charlie Blanchard, also known as ‘Mr Fix it’ has been overwhelmed with the community’s support after sharing his story about his passion for fixing bikes with the Star Mail.
The 15-year-old has shown great determination for his passion and the community have responded with their overwhelming love and support.
Charlie has been successful in making a motorbike from scratch including the frame as a part of a school project and he received top spot for his work at school.
His school project will be displayed in Federation Square as part of an arts and technology competition.
A senior local from Ferntree Gully was overjoyed when she read Charlie’s story and she has offered him many of her tools and equipment to help him continue his work.
“The first thing I thought of was he’s a young man and he knows where he’s going and what he wants to do,” Margaret said.
She said it gives her so much joy to see teenagers like Charlie are doing the right thing, focusing on building themselves and the community rather than causing troubles.
“I’ve got all these tools I haven’t used in years that are sitting in the shed and going to waste, so I thought Charlie would probably use them.”
“I’ve been collecting tools because I’ve had a few projects that didn’t quite work out.”
Margaret said she has nieces and nephews but they wouldn’t look after tools and she wants it to go towards someone who’ll use them rather than selling them.
“Everything comes to those who wait…when I saw Charlie and his mum in the paper, I was very happy, overjoyed actually for him to use my tools,” she said.
Greg Sims is the senior version of Charlie, he was also thrilled when he read Charlie’s story in the paper.
He had the same passion as 15-year-old Charlie but back in his days he didn’t have much support.
“He sounded very similar to what and how I started out, I just thought if he wanted to accept the materials I would be more than happy to give it to him,” he said.
“When I was younger I had to learn and teach myself everything – there was nobody around that could teach me and I want to pass on some of my knowledge and also help him with what he wants to do.”
Greg said it’s been awhile since he was last in contact with people in karting and racing, he thought about throwing all his good tools in a dump bin.
“We should be compassionate and caring enough for our society and we should give back to our society…in my small ways, I’m glad I could do that,” he said.
Charlie has visited Greg to thank him and to collect his tools.
“I felt really excited because I wanted the tools and needed the equipment and I always have to buy the equipment and it holds me back on creating my projects,” Charlie said.
“Handing down things that you think you may not need anymore can really help someone else,” he said.
Charlie is welcoming of anything that could help him flourish in his journey.
He said donating things to others who will benefit from it is an investment because they could be the one to continue and finish your unfinished projects.
“He’s coming back to pick up some more stuff and hopefully we can become friends and I can pass on some more knowledge,” Greg said.
Charlie’s mum Elizabeth Symonds said she’s absolutely overwhelmed to see the community’s support for her son’s passion.
“I felt happy and supported by Greg, a member of my community, to share his knowledge with Charlie that took him a lifetime to learn,” she said.
“Handing this knowledge to my son felt very special, and they have met twice and have enjoyed chatting which Charlie I know appreciates this as he has often asked if there is someone with knowledge in his interest to talk to.”
“This form of kindness Charlie will never forget and it will shape his career in a direction that can bring immense satisfaction and reward.”
Elizabeth said she has noticed there are so many students in a classroom these days and it would be very difficult to drive a child’s learning through their interest and passion.
“My experience is that Individual learning plans in schools are not achieved even though it is a requirement by the department of education and the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority,” she said.
“If we could encourage our community to share knowledge of skills and life to the younger ones then the children could exercise their imagination which creates vision then innovation and also leadership…leading our children to great leaders of the future.”
She hopes more young people have the same support and opportunity to be paired up with a retired skilled person to learn from each other, like Charlie found Greg and Margaret.
“These types of connections would brighten both of their worlds and also give much needed learning for our youth,” she said.
Charlie and his mum are set to visit Margaret sometime this week.
