MenzShed 17 June

Another good day last Thursday.

John getting stuck into his peeler handles. Looking good they are too.

The computer crew were making great headway on their present recycling challenge too.

The fire engine took several more steps forward. What a difference it makes when the materials are all there.

Henry checked out our 2 small benchtop ovens to see if they are ok. One is a bit short of heat at the bottom but I am sure we will get good use out of that anyway. The other one with an element on top is working fine. We might even try a small natch of scones to prove their worth this week. Just watch this space.

A member we haven't seen for a while, Bill Flanagan came in specially to help make up some saw horses that we need. With his help we have now the materials ready to put them together. He has the designs. We have the tdechnology and the materials. So this week could see us set up with those as well.

There was another delivery of pallets from Bunnings and breaking them down for firewood began with a vengence out the back. What a hive of activity. All that noise from the wee chainsaw created some great slamming of windows on the apartments overlooking our yard. Woops, we will have to get that silencer fixed. Dougs electric one was a lot more suited to the confined space. This still needs a big effort to catch up with supply and get the sales under way.

We were going to do some extra on the pile of pallets this Tuesday but with the cold wind and rain that didn't happen.

ITS ALL ON FOR THE FIREWOOD TOMORROW IN FACT THIS THURSDAY WILL BE MORE OF WHAT HAPPENED LAST WEEK.

So people know the fate of our magnificent mahogany table that was so beautifully restored. It is currently for sale on Trade Me with a reserve of $200. If you know anyone who might collect such items then point them in the right direction. It comes up as a Coffee Table in Kapiti (where our TradeMe member lives).

You might also like to know that Refugee Survices now have a fully operating Electronic Whiteboard with printer. Following a request for help Norman paid a visit to their office to have a look to see if it might be something for us to take on and while there managed a complete repair on the spot. How satisfying is that now.

LETS SEE IF WE CAN COMPLETE A FEW THINGS THIS WEEK BECAUSE NEXT WEEK IS THAT LAST THURSDAY OF THE MONTH AND SO ITS BBQ SAUSAGES AND SCONE TIME AGAIN!!!

WE WILL BE INVITING SOME GUESTS WHO WANT TO MEET UP WITH US.

See you all at the Shed in Haining Street.

Addenda

Following a quietish day today we were just sitting down thinking where to from here. A couple of important issues came quickly to mind.

1. Doug, Henry, Stuart, Don and everyone who could lend a hand did a fantastic job attacking the pallet firewood stack today. When I saw the effort involved and the physical stress being put on the people, it crossed my mind as to "is this what we should be asking of our members"? My immediate thought is if we have to put in this much effort every week then firewood will have to dominate every Thursday and I wouldn't want to see that. What are the thoughts of others????

2. Next week is the last Thursday of the month and so it will be BBQ and socialising day. There are a number of people who I think we could invite to come along and find out what MenzShed Wellington is about.

Firstly there are our associates from other MenzSheds in the area. In particular there is the currently inactive Newlands Shed known as the Northern Suburbs MenzShed. Doug and I met John Spittal at the conference. We had discussed the possibility of their members making use of our facilities while they find a new venue. Any disagreement to that invite?

The second is MenzShed NaeNae. Our contact there is Archie Kerr who was also at the Masterton Conference. They are facing venue issues to and are working to build their own shed in the Hutt Valley. Could be lots of help to us in the future. What do others think about them being invited?

The Community Garden people for Wellington (Innermost Gardens) through Sarah Adams have expressed interest in meeting our Shed people with the view to exploring how we might be able to help one another. We have been in talks with another community garden group as well and there are major synergies between the two groups. Any problems with an invite to Sarah next Thursday?

Mary Strang of the Hutt Valley District Health Board is one of our source of helpful funding. An invite to her could aid better understanding of what is being achieved on the Wellbeing of Men front. Any problems witrh that?

This past week we also met Gill Burns from Habitat for Humanity who was interested in how MenzShed might be an important support group to a concept of refurbishing items for resale through an organised group of outlets about the country. What do people think about an invite there?

These are the contact details we have. If you want to add to the list please add contact information to the list.

John Spittal, Northern Suburbs MenzShed Group (Newlands) spittals@xtra.co.nz

Archie Kerr, Menz Shed Naenae archie.kerr@clear.net.nz

Sarah Adams, Innermost Gardens innermostgardens@gmail.com

Mary Strang, Regional Public Health, Hutt Valley District Health Board mary.strang@huttvalleydhb.org.nz

Gill Burns, Habitat for Humanity, Lower North Island gillb.habitat@xtra.co.nz

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