A group of Christchurch park rangers were behind a fundraising bid to buy one of their longest-serving volunteers an electric bike.
Christchurch City Council parks programmes and partnerships manager, Kate Russell, said the bike will give Ian Morris a chance to keep helping the rangers at Victoria Park in Cashmere, which he has been doing for more than 20 years.
"Ian Morris has been volunteering at Victoria Park for more than 20 years and he’s an absolute legend," Russell said.
"He has special intellectual needs but he has never let that slow him down. And he’s an inspiration to our park rangers and to our other volunteers.
"He loves biking and three days a week he slogs up Dyers Pass Rd on his push bike to Victoria Park where he looks after the gardens around the visitor centre.
"Like all of us, Ian isn’t getting any younger and it has been getting harder for him to make the ride up to Victoria Park.
"He loves the routine of coming to the park and it’s really good for his well-being, so we decided it was time Ian went electric.
"With an e-bike, Ian can remain part of the team at Victoria Park and stay connected to the cycling community on the Port Hills.
The park rangers set up a givealittle page to raise money for the bike and persuaded Ecoquip NZ Ltd to donate an accessory package to go with it.
A significant number of the donations received via the Give-A-Little page came from the mountain biking community who shared the campaign link on their social media networks.
The e-bike and the accessories were presented to an elated Ian at Victoria Park on Tuesday afternoon.
Ian named his new ride Black Beauty before taking it for a spin.
"I can get rid of all my old bikes now," he said.
Ranger Nigel Morritt works with Ian and thanked him for his hard work.
"(Ian's) a very important part of our little family up here," Morritt said.
"You are an absolute legend."
