About Us

Contact Details

Email us: email@wcw.org.nz

Membership

The WCW is a community organisation and anybody can join. We have all types!

History

Who is involved

The Trust

The WCW is a registered Trust setup by Ben and Gwilym. The current trustees are Ben, Gwilym and Alan.

Founding Principles

  • To provide a place for members of the community to learn ‘shoulder to shoulder’
  • To engage all groups in the community, both the urban and rural areas of the Upper Clutha District, to promote identity, sociability, companionship and mental health.
  • To share, disseminate, and preserve skills, abilities and interests that are relevant to the resilience of the community.
  • To reduce waste through reuse, repair, and re-purposing.
  • To build self-esteem through education and skills mastery.
Gwil + Ben

Gwilym Griffith-Jones. Founder of Cactus Clothing, entrepreneur, creator, as good with a sewing machine as he is with an electric drill, computer, or table saw.

Ben Acland. Big talker with a massive concern about waste in our community and for our future generations.

Primary Site Contact / MenShed leader

Ian Maxwell

Ian worked in Auckland City Council, with his wife Gillian they retired from Auckland to Wanaka and become and integral part of the community. Gillian is a member of the MenShed group, proving that this is a progressive group.

Supervisor

Allan

Allan was the first person to turn up to help (before the opening day) and has been here almost every day since. Allan is often at the workshop facilitating events with our partners Mint Trust and Kahu Youth.

Fabricate on site lead

Sue James

Sue James along with Claire O’Connell kick started the fabricate room at the Wanaka Community Workshop.

Sue has her own business in Central Oil making tailored oilskin jackets. A passionate seamstress and pattern maker who is looking to pass on her skills and knowledge. Sue is on site most days.

Coffee

The Little Brewer

John Hart has been brewing coffee on site for a while now. Keep the crew caffeinated along with his regular customers from across Wanaka 6:45am to 2:00pm weekdays. https://www.facebook.com/TheLittleBrewer/