By Tom Cowie
David Glenny chokes back tears as he recalls the impact that youth social worker Les Twentyman had on his family.
The 47-year-old single dad of six from Maribyrnong, in Melbourne’s west, puts it simply: “I don’t think that those kids could have survived without him.”
Single father David Glenny with his family, Satine, 21, Celeste, 15, Satine’s partner Chaze, (back row); and Uraia, 12, Satine’s child Reimana, 3, and Addicus, 13, in their Maribyrnong home.Credit: Jacob Pattison
Ten years ago, Glenny needed help. His children were struggling and he was trying to get them back on track. He was introduced to Twentyman, who passed away on Saturday, aged 76.
Tributes for Twentyman flooded in from premiers, footballers and Melbourne identities. But it was the people whose names you don’t know, from Twentyman’s beloved western suburbs, whose lives he truly changed.
“He was so approachable and such a charismatic person,” says Glenny.
His children were some of the thousands given a brighter future by the Les Twentyman Foundation’s outreach initiatives, including the back-to-school program which provided essential school supplies like books.
“He was like a grandfather to them. He was just one of those people that you immediately fell in love with. He became family, straightaway,” says Glenny.
Les Twentyman in 2010.Credit: Wayne Taylor
His daughter, Satine Colomb, 21, says Twentyman got her through some of the toughest years of her life. She joined his basketball program as an 11-year-old.
“I wasn’t heading down a very good path and he gave me all the tools I needed, like self-worth,” she says.
Now, Colomb is a disability support worker. Twentyman helped her get her first house when she was 18 and gave her some work to get her on her feet.
“I don’t know where I’d be without him,” she says.
Twentyman’s influence on the other side of the West Gate Bridge was so profound that former premier Steve Bracks called him an “icon of the west”.
Twentyman as a younger man.Credit: Jason South
He knew how to play on the stereotype of a battling, working-class area that was looked down upon by the eastern suburbs to win support for his many causes.
When the Western Bulldogs, then Footscray, were close to merging with Fitzroy in 1989, Twentyman formed part of the Save the Dogs committee which helped save the club.
As the news of the merger broke, Twentyman told supporters, then gathered at Western Oval: “The silvertails have come in the dead of the night and absconded with our footy club.”
In the end, the Bulldogs were saved thanks to an extraordinary community effort that raised more than $1.5 million to clear the club’s debt.
Twentyman during his run for parliament.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui
“Les was one of the very few people who was fearless, both in public and in meetings with government and with the VFL,” says former Bulldogs president and Twentyman’s cousin Peter Gordon, who was also on the Save the Dogs committee.
Despite his rhetoric, Twentyman knew how to mix it with the big end of town. He needed to be a master networker to ensure his programs had funding from private donors.
“If you’re relying on government money, there’s no such thing as a free lunch, so to speak,” he once told The Age.
He was always outspoken on issues affecting the west, particularly youth crime and drugs. He regularly advocated for alternatives to sending teenage offenders to prison, such as the outreach programs he championed.
Twentyman was born in 1948 and grew up in Braybrook, as the eldest of five children. His parents ran a fruit shop, and he was a talented footballer at a young age.
In 1984, he was employed at the City of Sunshine as an outreach worker and started his foundation in 1989.
Twentyman was Victorian of the Year in 2006 and was awarded an Order of Australia in 1994 for his work.
He had several runs for parliament, including two unsuccessful attempts as independent for the Victorian parliament’s upper house in 1992 and 1996.
He is survived by his wife, Cherie, and his step-children.
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