Wānaka Community Workshop News
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…
Better Brew Ups
It may surprise some but its not all work at the Mens Shed. We also enjoy the odd brew – a cuppa. Indeed the time for a cuppa is a key part of our day. A time to catch up and share stories. Without running water in our kitchen our brew ups were more akin…
Fresh hands make light work
Its always great to welcome folk who drop into the Wanaka Community Centre. This week Catie called in to give a hand to the supporters of the MenShed. Catie is working in town over the University holidays, heard about the MenShed and thought she would give it a go. We were busy. The supporters are…
A great place to get involved
Gillian and her husband moved to Wanaka in July. Gillian’s family had holidayed here for years. Taking the plunge and relocating south from Auckland meant they needed to engage with the community here in Wanaka. They joined the MenShed. “It was great to learn new skills” said Gillian. But what I love most about the…
Family icon restored to glory
Early in 2021 long term Wanaka resident Lindsay dropped into the Wanaka Community Workshop. She presented a challenge. Could we restore a garden seat which her granddad had owned? At the MensShed we have people like Stu Simpson who like a challenge. With new woodwork and refurbished steel work the seat, resplendent in classic kiwi…
10/02/2022 – Fundraising Sale
The first panel was lifted on the 29th of November, three weeks and 300 volunteer hours (and a few sausage rolls) later we have some wood stacked up ready to sell. 14th and 15th of January, between 0900 and 1500 we will have the gates open for buying / collecting wood. Pricing will vary with…
17/12/2021 – Mons Royale Circular Design Challenge
Mons Royale founder and CEO Hamish Acland attended a Bike-vember event where participants built their own bike rack from waste materials. He and his son Ted enjoyed it so much they came back with the Mons Royale Wanaka Headquarters team. The brief was to lead four teams through a circular design process creating bike racks…
15/12/2021 – Recycling Former Mitre10 Wood Rack
During the shift from Anderson Road to the new Three Parks location Mitre10 Mega there was a massive clean up, many items nuts, bolts, screws, tools were put aside as they were missing items or in broken packaging. The Wanaka Community Workshop was the lucky recipient of large quantities of this. During the collection of…
Tuesday and Thursday Morning Sessions are Growing Strongly
The Tuesday and Thursday morning sessions, 9am-12pm, are really starting to crank. We started with Alan, two more Alan’s showed up and now we have up to a dozen regulars making rat traps, shelving, organizing the workshop and working on their own projects.
4KT Elephant Workshop
On the 18th April 2021 the 4KT Elephant Workshop happened at the Wanaka Community Workshop. A wonderful event that resulted in beautiful elephants going home with the happy makers.
Sign Making
We’re getting some stuff done. Today Dunlop Building dropped off some great materials and we started making the first sign. Evolution!
We Have A Building!
The building is rented at 15 Gordon Road and will be open for the first time on Thursday 1st April 2021. Drop in and see what is happening. If you can bring us any timber, a saw bench or some volunteer labour all the better!
Meetings and Decisions
The hardest thing to sort out has been a physical location for the Workshop. We’ve talking to Council about locating a building on Council land and looked at every option we can think of. In order to actually get this thing started we’ve decided to lease a building on Gordon Road, Wanaka for the following…
2020 is coming to a close…
The end of the year is here and while we haven’t achieved what we were hoping to, a locked in physical location to start the Wanaka Community Workshop journey, we have started a Charitable Trust, done a lot of research and feel like we’re closer to making the idea a reality. We’re feeling confident we’ll…
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