Category: News
Time for a break
The MenShed team operating from the Wanaka Community Workshop love making things. That said the team also enjoy each other company. Mostly this takes place over a cup of tea of coffee at the Workshop. From time to time we also get out. This month we had a picnic with the Friends of Bullock Creek.…
Homes for weta
The Upper Clutha is home to an amazing array of insects. Many are unique reflecting our dry and alpine environments. Iconic among New Zealand insects is the Weta. Species of Weta are found among our highest alpine peaks down to forests along the shores of our lakes. Recently the team at the MenShed have been…
A table for kids to hammer
This month Di dropped in to give the team at the MenShed a hand. She joined JimBob in creating a small table – a table for kids to try out their woodworking skills. A table upon which a hammer may be used, a saw or a screwdriver. Thanks to JimBob, the design of the table…
Bullock Creek extends its boardwalk
Its great to experience what the Friends of Bullock Creek have established over the years. The restoration of the natural environment and the development of of walkways and informative signage is a joy. The Friends are more than this however. The Friends act as guardians to ensure the natural waters of Bullock Creek and our…
Trap library making a difference
Wanaka Backyard Trapping is a community organisation all about giving the local native wildlife a hand. They do this by enabling residents across the Upper Clutha to trap predators in their backyards. Wanaka Backyard Trapping manages a trap library. People can borrow for free traps from the library to target rats, stoats and other predators…
Waxing the Boards
The Winter snows abound on the hills and mountains above Wanaka. Its great to see large numbers of visitors back in town. It’s not only visitors who ski but locals as well. This includes supporters of the Wanaka Community Workshop. While we are known for working with wood and soon textiles, we do have other…
fabricate – growing all the time
fabricate is located within the Wanaka Community Workshop. Fabricate is providing opportunities for members of the community to learn skills associated with textiles and clothing. Its early days for fabricate and final fitting out of the workspace is underway. The team from the MenShed right next door is helping out. This month desks have been…
Time for a brew
The team at the MenShed gathers each Tuesday and Thursday mornings. During this time we make stuff – often from recycled materials and always for the community. However during this time there is always time for a brew. Its a great opportunity to catch up and solve the worlds problems. This week we also welcomed…
Making a difference with Wai Wanaka
WAI Wānaka is an organisation. An organisation made up of passionate people working toward empowering communities to understand natural waters such as lakes and streams, their environment, and their impact. The team from the MenShed regularly work with WAI Wānaka. This week the team delivered a interactive display board that will be used to help…
Kids growing
This week the MenShed team from the Wanaka Community Workshop prepared a small seedling tray The tray is the first of a dozen or more that will be distributed to pre schools across the Upper Clutha. The idea is the brain child of Jo from the Te Kākano Aotearoa Trust. Te Kākano Aotearoa Trust is…
MINT show their skills
Last week the Wanaka Community Workshop welcomed back MINT. MINT is our local community trust which supports those in Upper Clutha Area with intellectual disabilities. As part of their comprehensive program MINT visits the Wanaka Community Workshop each month. Our team at the Wanaka Community Workshop really appreciates the opportunity to work with MINT. This…
Lynn River keeping us safe
The Wanaka Community Workshop exists to make a difference – a difference for our community, for our natural environment. We very much appreciate it when our efforts are recognised. We especially appreciate it when this appreciation is in the form of donations that support our efforts. Lynn River, the premier supplier of New Zealand workplace…
Launch of floating nest platforms
A few weeks back the team at the MenShed completed new nesting platforms for the Wanaka population of the rare and endangered Crested Grebes. The platforms were of an enhanced design that reflected experience with the birds over recent years. The platforms were recently placed into Roys Bay near the marina and just offshore from…
Fabricate benefits from a flow of donations
After weeks of planning and effort Fabricate is now operating from the Wanaka Community Workshop. Fabricate brings to the Wanaka an opportunity for the community to create with textiles. The first sewing machines are in place with more to follow. Fabricate is calling for donations to help with their set up. Members of our great…
Fabricate Wanaka well on its way
Changes are nearing completion at the Wanaka Community Workshop. A new space has been created. The space is known as Fabricate and will focus upon working with textiles – sewing, stitching, upholstery etc. It’s going to be great – a whole new opportunity for our community. Fabricate is the brain child of Sue and Claire…
Food banks delivering
For members of the MenShed its great to see projects they have worked on serving their intended purpose. Over recent weeks three food banks have been delivered – to the Wanaka Community Hub, the Wanaka Recreation Centre and at Lugate. Each provides an opportunity to share local produce and to reduce the cost of feeding…
Mid Year Christmas
At times one just needs a break. While its sunny, its also cool – the first snows have fallen in Wanaka. Time for mid year Christmas! This week the team at the Menshed had an extended tea break – complete with cake and a rather dubious Christmas tree. Its great to get stuff done but…
ITM Southern Lakes is the new Gold sponsor for Wanaka Community Workshop.
A not for profit charitable trust, Wanaka Community Workshop (WCW) operations is heavily reliant on volunteer time, contestable funding and community goodwill to meet its operating budget and outgoing expenses, while balancing the need to deliver the trust’s purposes, which are to build community resilience by enabling community connection; creating social situations where people can…
Easy walking at Bullock Creek
The Friends of Bullock Creek recently completed an extension to their walkway. The walkway enables easy access to this wonderful ecological gem located within the urban area of Wanaka. The Friends have over the years been the catalyst behind the restoration and protection of Bullock Creek and the fresh wayer springs which are its source.…
Trap Library for Backyard Trapping
A few weeks back the Wanaka Community Workshop hosted Wanaka Backyard Trapping – an agency promoting the trapping of pests by local land owners. Wanaka Backyard Trapping introduced the concept of a trap library – traps that people may borrow, much like people borrow books from the library. The traps have been a roaring success.…
Gnome’s at Bremner Bay
The Wanaka Community Workshop has been operating for about a year. Starting off small, one of our initial projects was the fabrication of gnome houses. Each was then painted by kids from Duke of Edinburgh and William Pike then erected adjacent to the children’s pump cycle track in Bremner Bay. It was a great project…
Fish, eels and birds with a message
All stormwater that falls upon land across the Upper Clutha eventually drains into our Lakes and Rivers. Stormwater is not pure. It picks up and takes with it materials and chemicals that our natural waters can do without. Furthermore many of us directly pour liquids we no longer want for ourselves down the stormwater drain…
Lilliput 305
The newest member of the New Zealand’s network of lilliput libraries stands just outside the main public entrance to the Wanaka Recreation Centre. Lilliput number 305 is managed by staff at Wanaka Library. Since established Lilliput 305 has been busy – on average 23 books every day are being withdrawn. A few weeks back, the…
Making a difference
Over many years a significant effort has been underway throughout the Upper Clutha to reduce the threat of pests to our endangered wildlife. Part of this effort involves traps that target killers – stoats, possums, and rats. A host of agencies are involved. These include the Department of Conservation, community and environmental groups, firms, schools…
Weka friendly traps for our island sanctuary’s
Recently the team from the Men’s Shed have been working with the Department of Conservation piloting a new design for traps. The traps are intended for Norwegian Rats which reside on islands within Lake Wanaka. The islands are also home to rare Weka – curious birds with long beaks. The new traps are longer. They…
Donations make a difference
The Wanaka Community Workshop continues to benefit from the donation of materials and equipment. Our community is strong and its humbling to receive these gifts. Building materials are often dropped off at the Workshop in Gordon Road but the team from the Mens Shed also collect from sites across Wanaka. A great sign of success…
Lilliput Library
Lilliput Library Cromwell Kidsfirst Kindergaten now has their Lilliput Library up at 25 Gilling Place, Cromwell, New Zealand. A year ago Nicola came into the WCW and asked about the Lilliput Library she had seen in the media. Cromwell kids could really do with one. The workshop had only just started and we were trying…
MINT’s next visit
This week the team at the Mens Shed were preparing for the next visit by the MINT Charitable Trust to the Wanaka Community Workshop. The MINT Trust support those in Upper Clutha Area with intellectual disabilities. Each visit to the Wanaka Community Workshop involves practicable work assembling an item that can be taken home. The…
Board walk for Bullock Creek
This week members of the Mens Shed working from the Wanaka Community Workshop completed a job for the Friends of Bullock Creek. Bullock Creek emerges from ground water springs and runs through Wanaka entering the Lake adjacent to Dinosaur Park. The stream is a treasured natural icon of our town. Over many years the Friends…
Produce from the garden
It makes a difference to grow your own vegetables – a taste difference for us and its easier on the planet. This week the team from the Mensshed operating from the Wanaka Community Workshop built a structure to house a raised garden. The new garden will serve a number of our elder residents of Wanaka.…
A trap library for Wanaka
Each of us wear multiple hats – Marcus is both a team member of the MensShed and a member of the community group Wanaka Backyard Trapping. Recently Marcus has been putting the final touches on traps that will initially stock Wanaka’s first trap library. Managed by Wanaka Backyard Trapping the library will be located at…
Sue cuts through
This week Sue used her skills to cut wood – wood for traps. A focus for the team at the Mens Shed (clearly not just men) as been traps. Sophisticated traps for stoats that will be located in backyards across the Upper Clutha and around the urban shoreline of Lake Wanaka. “Its great to learn…
MINT builds lives
The MINT Charitable Trust is all about forging great lives for those with intellectual disabilities in the Upper Clutha Region. As part of this program this week MINT came to the Mens Shed at the Wanaka Community Workshop. It was great to have them. After a few hours on the tools everyone went home with…
Backyard trapping
Over the next few weeks a number of community groups will be encouraging households across the Upper Clutha to trap stoats and rats. The effort is part of a wider program to create a local environment that is predator free. To achieve this outcome each of us will need to do our bit. The Mens…
New workspace
Changes are underway at the Wanaka Community Workshop. Currently the Workshop largely focusses upon working with wood. We are now preparing space that will be designed and equipped for working with textiles. This month the team leading the change together with members of the Mens Shed have started conversion of what was underutilised space within…
Supporting our Food Banks
Food banks are part of the social infrastructure serving communities across the Upper Clutha. The team at the Mens Shed operating from the Wanaka Community Workshop have built a small number of shelving units designed to receive donated food and permit easy pick up. They have proved so effective that this month two more units…
Bug hotels
Insects are a critical element of our natural environment. Most pollination of plants is carried out by insects. They are also a key source of food for our native birds. The team at the Mens Shed operating from the Wanaka Community Workshop have been asked to provide structures to accommodate insects – “bug hotels”. Built…
Restoring a gold rush relic
Visiting one of the regions antique stores Alan spotted a hand forged pick – a relic of the gold rush. He considered the tool deserved a new life. Using equipment at the Wanaka Community Workshop Alan cleaned and brushed up the steel. He then turned and shaped a new handle. Good as new!
Hands to the tools
Te Kakano is a Trust which operates a Wanaka community based native plant nursery. It specialises in propagating plants originating from our local Upper Clutha region. The plants raised are then used for native habitat restoration around the region. In this the Trust works with local community groups, schools, organisations and businesses in a hands…
Working with the Garden Club
At the Wanaka Community Workshop the MenShed team were recently joined by members of the Wanaka Garden Club. The Club is planning a get together for their members in late March. The get together will held at the Workshop. One of the objectives is for members of the Garden Club to assemble seed box’s within…
Toys for a great cause
M!NT is a group of local parents in our community who are supporting children and young adults with intellectual disabilities. Jude who works with M!NT as their ambassador dropped into the Wanaka Community Workshop recently. She shared her idea with supporters of the MenShed that they could make “something” to be sold at an upcoming…
Reducing waste by re-use
A key objective of the Wanaka Community Workshop is to reduce waste. The key means by which we achieve this is by re-using and re-purposing material that would otherwise be dumped. Recently volunteers dismantled wooden racks which once held products at the now closed Mitre 10 shop off Reece Cresent. This work took many hours.…
Monitoring insect populations
Insects are a key part of our ecosystem. They are pollinators, they deal with waste and they are food for a host of animals. Given these benefits its important to monitor the extent and diversity of insect populations. This week the team from the Mens (and womans) Shed completed six insect monitoring stations for WAI…
Paint store for the workshop
At the Wanaka Community Workshop we use recycled materials, materials which would otherwise have been disposed of. Wood products such as timber and plywood as well as screws, nails and bolts are an important part of this. However we also reuse paint and stains which would otherwise have been disposed of. We need to store…
Lilliput Libraries
Reading is important. Important for society as a whole. Important for us as individuals. Its also fun. Encouraging reading is a key mission for Wanaka Library. Part of this is making it easy for folk to access books. With a great book collection at the library and on line, our librarians are working to complement…
Aiding our island habitats
Within Lake Wanaka are four islands – Mou Waho (120 ha), Te Peka Karara (65 ha), Mou Tapu (120ha) and Ruby Island (3 ha). The Department of Conservation in association with community groups are working to create pest free haven’s on the largest three islands. Their work has already permitted buff weka to be returned…
Gifted kit for the Workshop
The MenShed operates out of the Wanaka Community Workshop every Tuesday and Thursday morning. This week Peter Young dropped in with an offer – would we like a band saw? Would we? We would love it! Half and hour later Peter was back. Peter brought with him a band saw that had served him over…
Upgraded nest platforms for Grebes
This week John Darby who has led the program to save the endangered Great Crested Grebe’s for the last decade visited the Wanaka Community Workshop. John was accompanied by Dave Thomas and Markus Hermanns. They were checking out the refurbishment of a second batch of nesting platforms. The Great Crested Grebe is a water bird…
Bike stands from construction waste
Tired of picking your bike up off the floor? Weary of trying to balance your cycle up against a wall? The Wanaka Community Workshop has the answer to your problem – a bike stand. The stands are made from construction waste that would otherwise have ended up in a landfill. Simple, stable and custom designed…
Sarah makes a difference
Over the holidays Sarah has been picking cherries in the Upper Clutha. This week before heading back north to University she dropped into the Wanaka Community Workshop. Sarah was looking to make a contribution to our community. She joined the team from the Mens Shed for a morning. We are currently building a batch of…